Abstract:

The concept of “Ausländer” has been used as a sociological category, since its first inception by Georg Simmel. This article discusses the notion of “otherness” in the example of Turkish Gastarbeiters in Germany, those who were thought to be temporary workers. The concept of “otherness” has polyvalent meanings in various contexts. Maintaining a historical perspective, the paper peruses the relationship between social exclusion in German society in the face of the discussion of multiculturalism. I will examine the processes in which the people from Turkey had faced in Germany during the so-called guest work-process by looking at the various terms including, but not limited to, “Ausländische Arbeitnehmer” (foreign worker), Ausländische Mitbürger (foreign co-citizen) Einwanderer (incomer) Zuwanderer (migrant), Im/migrant (im/migrant), Neue Bürger, (new citizen), Deutsche mit Migrationshintergrund, (German with migration background), Deutschtürken, (German-Turks) Türkdeutschen, (Turkish-Germans) considering their social, linguistic and historical frmeworks and implications.

Keywords: