Apparently, it has everything to do with being a member of the club. Literally. In a study widely reported in the news here yesterday, there are around 4.3m Mus.lim.s living in Germany. Previous research had produce lower figures, an error authors of the current study said arose because only some countries of origin were considered.
Here’s the fun part – When evaluating the integration of the groups, the results were presented as follows:
Die soziale Integration ist der Studie zufolge besser als angenommen. Mehr als die Hälfte der Muslime sind Mitglied in einem deutschen Verein.
According to the study, the level of social integration is better than previously supposed. More than half of the Mu.sl.ims are members of a German club/organisation.
Whaaaaaaa? Where do I even start on this? When did this become a measure of integration? I admit, I am not as well integrated as I would perhaps like, and I don’t belong to a club, but I know lots of people who don’t belong to clubs. Particularly if you don’t have hobbies and aren’t into sports, there is a much lower likelihood that you would be. I think there are also generational differences and urban/rural differences and socio-economic differences here which would make it less likely for immigrants to be club members.
The FAZ article even implied (to my mind, but maybe I was just riled) that belonging to a religious organisation or to an organisation associated with the heritage culture was a negative sign of integration.
How about having a job with German colleagues? Or working in a German-dominated field or speaking the language? *frust*
Although there is a sad truth to this, the media presentation of the study also seems to suggest that ignoring Is.lam.ic law is a sign of integration – and more specifically, the parts of it that are nobody’s business, but that of the individual. (Really, if you can leave your neighbors in the vegan WG in peace, the fact another neighbor says “no” to the bratwurst is something you’re just going to have to deal with.)
Die strengen islamischen Speisevorschriften beachten die meisten (80,7 Prozent) Befragten. Muslime iranischer Herkunft setzen sich indes zu 75 Prozent darüber hinweg. Auch Schiiten und Aleviten nehmen die Vorschriften nicht so ernst.
Most respondents (80.7 percent) observe the strict (I am under the impression that there are much stricter dietary codes out there – correct me if I am wrong G) dietary laws. But up to 75 percent of Mus.lims of Iran.ian descent ignore them. Nor do the Shi.ite.s and Alevites take the dietary codes so seriously.
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June 25, 2009 at 10:55 am
G
I read this yesterday and was thinking about it.
My husband belongs to no clubs, but all of his relatives (all of them) belong to several. Remember, a club is also a band, a choir, a group of women, a sports thing, a getting together on Father’s day (here) for drinking (and all the other drinking days), a group that eats together or just goes for walks.
I belong to several (non-German) clubs: women’s (int’l), book (int’l). The girls belong to a swim group (starts in Fall). So yes, I do think it is a form of integration. If I could speak German (read) it well enough to be in a German book club, that would be a sign.
If you have no kids, if you work full-time (in a more than German, spend 50% of net income on vacation way), I can see joining no clubs. But do you socialize with native Germans? (We generally don’t- they are hard to meet. 2 years later, I am having lunch regularly with a German woman-met through the kid’s -to practice language.)If you meet regularly with non-related Germans, you are probably integrated (which is what I think that verein/gemeinde statistic means- I also think it includes churches/religious institutions where German is the primary language, as it is in the Judische Gemeinde and I don’t know about Islamic or other religions).
As for dietary restrictions, hewing to Jewish ones strictly is far harder. I eat hallal as a relaxation of my restrictions.
June 25, 2009 at 5:16 pm
annonamoose
I guess that’s the point. We’re up at 6 or shortly before or shortly after and I don’t get home from work until 7 pm on a normal night. I am in a stammtisch now, but it’s not an Ev.
and it’s English speaking ladies. I associate a bit with my former colleagues, but the little is often with foreigners – through couchsurfing, for instance. The UNGS is a real introvert, so that must also play a role. (I did in retrospect think of a club he belongs to, but he hasn’t been in ages although he still pays dues.)