Europe and America : A Comparative Analysis of « Ethnicity »

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Europe and America : a Comparative Analysis of Ethnicity. Donald L. HOROWITZ Societies and polities differ in the extent to which they divide ethnic groups into natives and immigrants. In some states, indigenousness creates strong claims to priority, whereas in others yesterday's immigrants can become today's natives. In the United States, despite massive immigration, the category of « immigrant » is shrinking. Citizenship is liberally available by naturalization and by jus soli. In Germany, by contrast, citizenship is acquired on a jus sanguinis basis ; naturalization is rare ; even third generation Turks are often considered « immigrants ». Whereas to be American has little to do with blood, to be German means to be a Germon citizen and a member ofthe German ethnic group. On all of these dimensions, France and Britain are in-between. There is some genetic content to being French or British, but immigrants can, to some extent, become French or British. Although France, unlike Britain, is traditionally a country of immigration, both have had difficulty absorbing migrants from Asia and Africa. Education and housing policies affecting minorities vary from country to country. In Germany and America, both federal states, education is less uniform and more subject to local control than in France and Britain. In France and America, the schools have been traditional facilitators of immigrant acculturation and social mobility. In parts of Germany, schools have emphasized preparation of immigrant children for a return to the home country that seems unlikely. Germany has no housing policy targeted at minorities, who tend to live in poorer conditions than Germans do. Despite the absence of a policy in Britain, minority housing conditions have improved steadily. American policies have improved the access of middle-class minority group members to good housing but have done little for members of the lower class. Overall, there is no clear relation between ethnic policies and the conditions in which the minorities find themselves.

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