Immigrants' Ethnic Identification and Political Involvement in the Face of Discrimination: A Longitudinal Study of the German Case

Abstract

Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) 1993–2006 as well as longitudinal modelling techniques, the present paper contributes to the growing body of literature on ethnic identity and its effects on Immigrants' social integration by examining the role of various forms of labour Immigrants' ethnic sense of belonging and cognitive involvement in politics. Theoretically, the paper draws on interdisciplinary integration models, social psychological theories of social identity as well as theoretical frameworks that delineate the politicisation of collective identity and especially the role of dual identification. Applying ‘hybrid’ models that combine the virtues of both fixed and random effects models, the statistical analysis confirms that dual identification—immigrant's identification with both the ethnic in-group and the national community simultaneously—is positively related to labour Immigrants' political interest, conditional on the perception of discrimination on behalf of the ethnic origin. Secondly, the longitudinal analyses show some indication that the effect is more pronounced among Turkish immigrants as well as that the mechanisms behind the cognitive politicising process of ethnic identity types differ by ethnic group. In summary, the paper recognizes the value of a multiple-, instead of a one-sided inclusion in emotional terms for Immigrants' cognitive political involvement.