Focus on Europe London Office October 2010 Ideas for an intelligent and progressive integration discourse The current debate on Thilo Sarrazin’s comments in Germany demonstrates that integration policy does not only need tangible and progressive contents, but also its discourse has to develop further. This is necessary in order to counteract right-wing positions that have increasingly occurred all over Europe in the past few years. In order to do so, a concept of culture and integration ob­tained from cultural studies could help in the creation of an intelligent and pro­gressive integration discourse that pre-empts and counteracts right-wing theo­ries and positions. S. Anne G. Bostanci * The beginnings of serious integration policy in Germany Since a public statement made by then German Home Secretary Otto Schily in 2001, the era of turning a blind eye and blocking out is over. This is not a question of coming to terms with Ger­many’s past in the classical sense of engag e­ment with its historical guilt, but a question of immigration policy, or rather integration policy. While public discourse had before referred to guest workers who were expected not to over­stay their welcome and return‘home’, it was finally recognised at this point in time that Ger­many was a country of immigration i and that the *Anne Bostanci is a former project manager for the UK office of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in London and currently working on her PhD at the Depart­ment of Politics at the University of Surrey in Guil­ford, UK former expectations had been unrealistic by his­torical comparison and inappropriate regarding human social considerations. This development did not stay without conse­quences. Even a conservative-led government had to face reality. Speaking in such broad terms, the political parties of the centre had reached a consensus. However, it is not the aim of this article to discuss how reasonable or suc­cessful the current government’s handling of integration policy is and what role the opposition is playing. Importantly, the current public debate on Sarrazin’s comments shows us one thing in particular; it is that integration policy does not only need tangible and progressive contents, but also has to develop further discursively. Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung London Office 66 Great Russell Street London WC1B 3BN Phone:+44(0)20 7025 0990 Fax:+44(0)20 7242 9973 e-mail: info@feslondon.net website: www.feslondon.org.uk