Sarah Thomsen Vierra. Turkish Germans in the Federal Republic of Germany. Immigration, Space, and Belonging, 1961–1990. (Cambridge University Press)
As the largest national group of guest workers in Germany, the Turks became a visible presence in local neighbourhoods and schools and had diverse social, cultural, and religious needs. Focussing on West Berlin, Sarah Thomsen Vierra explores the history of Turkish immigrants and their children from the early days of their participation in the post-war guest worker program to the formation of multi-generational communities.
What's the one key idea or message you want readers to take from your book?
I think if I had to boil it all down to an idea or a message rather than an argument, I'd want readers to come away from my book realizing that history happens on the scale of their own daily lives. History is, obviously, about big events, key moments, cataclysms, but it's also about the choices ordinary people make, the relationships they have, the places they shop, the jobs they do. It's much harder to notice the differences that daily life makes at the time, but the historical perspective allows us to see how the amalgamation of people's everyday lives can have significant impact in the longer term.
What got you interested in the topic of your book?
My interest in the topic of immigrants in Germany actually comes from the semester I spent in Berlin as a junior in college. What I had learned about Germany in high school and college didn't quite match up with the Germany I encountered in my daily life, which was much more diverse and dynamic. And I started to wonder what had brought immigrants to Germany and what they found when they got there.
Books answer questions, but they also raise new questions. What questions does your book raise?
I think a big question that my book begins to tackle in a limited way is, how have immigrants and their children shaped postwar German history? When we consider immigrants' influence, we think of topics like xenophobia, national identity, and politics, and often our understandings of these changes is one-sided. In other words, we ask, how has Germany had to change because of growing immigrant communities? Instead, I think my book raises the question of how have immigrant communities shaped postwar German history through their own actions, negotiations, and efforts? What have we overlooked by coming at this question from a particular perspective? What have we missed?
What are you currently reading, in your field or just generally, and what do you like about it?
Right now, I'm reading James Salzman's Drinking Water: A History for a global history course I'm teaching. I am very much enjoying its bro
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