Citizenship and Identity

2. The Situation in Great Britain

2.1. The Migration of South Asians to Britain

As usual in the 50s and 60s labour migrations the first South Asian migrants to Britain were young single men, some with family in their country of origin, who came to work for some time and then return to South Asia. A rotation system developed with one family member always being in Britain to earn money for the family at home. But with the restriction of entry regulations by the British authorities from the 60s onwards this set-up could not work any more, the family members already on the Isles had to stay in order to keep that source of income. The sojourners gradually transformed to settlers, established themselves more in Britain and now wanted to have their families there. Thus most of them either got their wives and children in South Asia to join them or married in their country of origin and brought their wives with them to Britain. Accordingly from the 60s onwards a second generation of South Asians is present on the Isles and now already the members of the third, even fourth generation are growing up. They form a major part of the roughly one and a half million or 3 % South Asians in Britain's population today.

The South Asians in Britain come mainly from Punjab, Gujarat and the Sylhet region, many with a detour via East Africa; most are Hindus, Sikhs or Muslims. Due to chain migration the settlement pattern shows certain centres such as Greater London, Leicester, Birmingham and Bradford. The typical migrant lives within a community and had to enter the labour market as unskilled or semi-skilled worker, many have established themselves as small entrepreneurs, mainly as shopkeepers. Professional and highly skilled South Asian migrants are relatively few in Britain and they are living much more dispersed than the others. While most migrants aim for educational improvement for their children, still many members of the second generation enter - for various reasons - the labour market in the lower segment. Most stay within the ethnic community of their parents, accepting the continuity of traditions like arranged marriages for themselves.

Content

Chapter 1 is the introduction.
Chapter 2 develops the British context, briefly describing the post-war migration history of South Asians to the Isles, the British citizenship law (as well as in a brief excursion the Indian rules) and then analysing the relevant literature on second generation South Asians in Britain.
Chapter 3 sets the scene for Germany, providing also a brief post-war migration history of South Asians, an overview of the citizenship law and rules on naturalisation, a description of the legal impact of being a foreigner in Germany and finally a brief look into the general literature on second generation migrants in Germany.
Chapter 4 is dedicated to the detailed analysis of second generation South Asians in Germany. It bases on the extensive fieldwork conducted in the preparation of this dissertation. After describing how the material was acquired through interviews, the material will be presented and analysed by distinguishing in a first step between second generation members with two and those with only one South Asian parent. In a second step the general features discovered by the fieldwork will be discussed.
Chapter 5 establishes the general conclusions to the topic by comparing the British and German situations. The discussion will centre on the interaction of external and internal definition in the formation of identity and belonging, and the role citizenship plays in this. Furthermore, it will be analysed how a foreign citizenship influences the relationship of second generation South Asians towards the state in which they live. From this questions for future research will develop.