Multiculturalism and the Nation in Germany: A Study in Moral Conflict

Multiculturalism and the Nation in Germany: A Study in Moral Conflict examines the new debates surrounding matters of multiculturalism, immigration, and national identity in Germany in the wake of the 2015 Refugee Crisis. Arguing that contemporary disputes are centered around four moral ideals, or ideal visions of the German community, it draws upon the thought of Émile Durkheim to identify the role of the sacred in political conflict. The book argues that at the heart of each moral ideal is a sacred object that legitimates specific policies and behaviors, and that attempts to realize moral ideals lead to conflicts involving free speech, German Memory Culture, inner-party rivalries, and political violence that go to the very essence of what it means to be German. The book includes a ground-breaking theoretical reworking of Durkheim’s sociology, which it applies to the study of power and politics, as well as to debates in political philosophy. This volume will appeal to scholars across disciplines with interests in political sociology, comparative politics, social and political theory, and questions of citizenship, national identity, and belonging.

Paul Carls obtained a PhD in political science from the Université de Montréal in 2020, was a course lecturer at the same institution, and completed a post-doctoral stay at the Luxembourg Institute for Socio-Economic Research.