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The Round Table on the Position of (Clandestine) Migrant Workers Held on Occasion of the Yugoslav Publication of G. Wallraff’s Book “Ganz Unten”
Abstract
In June of this year »Migracijske teme« and the Centre for Migration and Nationalities Studies organized a round table on occasion of the Yugoslav publication of Giinter Wallraff's latest book Ganz unten (in Croatian translation: »Na samom dnu« (At the very bottom), Zagreb, Liber, 1986). Besides participants from the host institution (Milan Mesić, Melita Švob, Sreća Perunović), researchers and experts were invited from other Yugoslav centres — Peter Klinar (Faculty of Sociology, Political Sciences and Journalism, Ljubljana), Silva Mežnarić (Emigration Institute of the Slovene Academy of Arts and Sciences, Ljubljana), Živan Tanić (Institute for Social Research, Belgrade), Đorđe Zelmanović (Vjesnik, Zagreb), Aleksa Milojević (Institute of Economics, Banja Luka), Rade Milovanović (Secretariat for Foreign Affairs, Administration for workers abroad, Belgrade), Ivo Sremac (Selfmanaging Community of Interest — Pension and Disability Insurance of the Workers of Croatia, Regional Service Zagreb). Although discussion focused on Wallraff's book, broader problems relating to the position of migrant workers in Europe were also treated.
In the Introductory part of the discussion, Milan Mesić noted that Wallraff's method (disguise as the Turkish migrant Ali) was very similar to observation with participation, a known approach in social research, yet due to the author's full identification with Turkish migrant workers his method could be more adequately designated as participation with observation. Furthermore, Mesić emphasized that Wallraff's book illustrated how capita-lism had not overcome modes of primary capital accumulation and that it continued to draw unorganized and unprotected contingents of labour force into its net of segmented markets. During the discussion other participants also noted that scenes from Wallraff's book evoked images of ninteenth century capitalism.
Peter Klinar stated that sociological research had already confirmed certain details described by Wallraff, namely that the category of clandestine seasonal migrants pre-sented a typical example of sub-proletarian status subjected to the worst forms of exploitation, that the social insecurity of migrants had increased in the present crisis, that ethnic stratification was present and, finally, that immigration societies tried to keep migrants trom forming cohesive groups. Forms of political organization virtually do not exist among migrants. Klinar argued that emigration countries, as well as countries of immigration, were responsible for this. The former fear that the political organization of their workers abroad may lead to conflicts in the host countries and subsequently to mass return.
Proceeding from the concept of boundary, defined as a structural cleavage within a given community, Silva Mežnarić claimed that Wallraff in fact treated three deeply-rooted European dimensions in which boundaries were typically set up. These occur in the relations between 1) capital and labour force, 2) God and the believer, and 3) death and the object of death. Wallraff's AM alternatively placed himself on the marginal side of these relations as a marginalized (Turkish clandestine) migrant worker, a marginalized believer (a Mo'slem wishing to convert to Christianity) and as a marginalized worker about to die of cancer. The Church, according to Silva Mežnarić, is a paradigm in Wallraff's book, illustrating European concepts of universalism. Hence, in the scenario of tension between Al'i (Wallraff) and the Church, especially in his discourse with various priests, almost everything was said regarding the present policy of integration of immigrants in West Germany.
Živan Tanić considered Wallraff's book as a sociological essay or study and felt that the author had completed what sociological and other analyses could not complete. Wallraff, according to Tanić, demystified so-called charitable and humanized capitalism, whe¬reas social research has so far been less critical and less open. Tanić opened up the question of why Wallraff had chosen the image of a Turkish migrant instead of the more drastic case of African immigrants in Europe. Turkish culture is, after all, relatively fami-liar to Europeans. In this regard, Silva Mežnarić mentioned that the Turkish example could be connected to a well-known sociological lesson — that stereotypes function most fully where distance is the greatest, yet that the concrete practice of segregation functions best where a foreign culture is well known. Đorđe Zelmanović, on the basis of his personal acquaintance with Wallraff, expressed the idea that Wallraff had chosen the figure of a Turk as a »pure« culture in the bacteriological sense. In regard to Germans, Turks have a completely different cultural and confessional basis. Zelmanović felt that Wallraff had chosen them as a drastic example.
Wallraff's book, according to Aleksa Milojević, illustrates what cannot be seen from sociological research. In this sense it essentially changes our knowledge of migration. The relationship between capital and labour is presented, and in it clandestine migration is shown not as an excess but as the final essence of migration. Milojević mentioned that up till now research generally treated the fate of individuals and more seldom approached the overall system. Hence dialectic relationships have been lost in research, and this has naturally led to unsatisfactory knowledge and practical results.
Rade Milovanović centred his discussion on the legal and political position of mi¬rant workers. Wallraff's text made him think about the meaning of the concepts of unequality, discrimination and equal treatment. Western European countries already uphold the principle of equality of citizens. Discrimination generally appears in regard to certain minorities in actions deriving from national, political and economic stimuli. Yet distinguishing one's own from foreign citizens is not usually considered as discrimination. The State, hence, guarantees its citizens the priority of certain rights. Furthermore, equal treatment, according to Milovanović, is not only a question of employment, but it relates to the enjoyment of civil, political and cultural rights as well. Milovanović posed the question: Can migrant workers influence the bodies that decide on their rights and duties? Generally, employers are advantaged by the judicial, police and bureaucratic systems. Milovanović expressed the opinion that barriers to the realization of the principle of equal treatment were posed by the question of citizenship as a legal and political status.
Proceeding from Milovanović's theme, Milan Mesić noted that the State as a source of legitimacy was a historical consequence. In history, sources of legitimacy for rights and duties have changed. Mesić questioned whether the interests of immigrants could be reduced to the state legitimacies of either immigration or emigration societies. Do immigrants not perhaps have new authentic interests that surpass such a concept of state legitimacy? If migrants were to form an international movement, continued Mesić, a new source of legitimacy for their civil rights would result from their own struggle.
Tanić continued his earlier discussion by stating that discrimination could not be eliminated as long as migrant labour functioned as a polit-economic category, as long as it was an instrument for the functioning of the System.
Towards the end of the round table discussion, Peter Klinar formulated several theses for further research. First, research should stem from a model that combines class aspects with aspects of ethnic stratification. Migration should be studied in regard to postindustrial society, within the global relations between developed countries and developing countries. Thirdly, research should treat the question of the quality of living. The problematics of civil society and movements is a further important topic. Differences between indigenous and immigrant ethnic minorities constitute yet another theme that should be treated. Klinar mentioned that more research should be carried on in examining the transformation of emigration societies into societies of immigration (this relates to Yugoslavia in the future). Certain fictions should be discarded in Yugoslav migration research, namely the term »temporary employment abroad«, the idea of mass return, the notion that migrants are part of the domestic working class, the policy of integration. Finally, institutions that function abroad (consulates, banks, schools, clubs, mass media) should be studied and the migration policies of both immigration and emigration countries should be fully evaluated.
Tanić claimed that the essential message of Wallraff's book was that research should take on new aspects, new theoretic and value-oriented approaches. Furthermore, migration cannot be studied without the inclusion of one's own values, since it constitutes a tragedy for a great many people.
Đorđe Zelmanović maintained that Wallraff's text presented an excellent status praesens of the migrant worker situation and that further elaboration (»therapy«) depended on other experts. According to Zelmanović, Wallraff himself has a general philanthropic solution to the matter.
Somewhat different from the discussions of most of the participants at the round table were the comments of Melita Švob and Ivo Sremac. Both focused on the health situation of migrants abroad, one of the important themes in Ganz unten. Sremac noted that German health authorities, familiar with the general iconography of Turkish migrant workers, often confused Yugoslavs with Turks and would note such things as the patient's reek of garlic, etc. In his exposition Sremac gave some interesting cases from the medical history of Yugoslav migrants abroad.
At the end of the round table discussion, Sreća Perunović noted that Wallraff's work described a society structured around the profit motive. It is a powerful testament of life »at the bottom« and the antagonisms between the social milieu and the immigrants cannot be reduced to the non-culture of the latter since class distinctions are primary. Nevertheless, as Sreća Perunović pointed out, the society that had produced a culture in which guest workers were subordinated and subjected to exploitation was the same society into which Wallraff himself was born and in which three million copies of his book had been sold.
Being unable to attend the round table in person, Emil Heršak (Centre for Migration and Nationalities Studies) sent a written comment for inclusion in this number of »Migracijske teme«.
Keywords
migrant workers; clandestine workers; Germany
Hrčak ID:
128795
URI
Publication date:
31.12.1986.
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