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Containerdeutsche - Contemporary German Immigration to Australia and Canada CONTAINERDEUTSCHE - CONTEMPORARY GERMAN IMMIGRATION TO AUSTRALIA AND CANADA by ULRIKE RADERMACHER Magister Artium, University of Munich A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY AND SOCIOLOGY We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA June 1991 © Radermacher, 1991 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at The University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the Head of my Department or by his or her representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department of Anthropology and Sociology The University of British Columbia 2075 Wesbrook Place Vancouver, Canada V6T 1W5 Date: 15.06.1991 ABSTRACT This thesis is a comparative study of contemporary German migration to Australia and Canada, specifically to Sydney and Vancouver. It explores the dynamics of the migration process from a phenomenological point of view. All events and circumstances in the migration process are seen as interrelated, and therefore important to the analysis. Furthermore, the meaning of a phenomenon can only be understood by exploring its context. Therefore, this study views contemporary German migration in its various contexts—how it is displayed in the social science literature and manifested in government statistics, how it is presented as common sense, and how it is experienced by the migrants themselves. Thus, the phenomenological approach attempts to be holistic. Using the phenomenologic-hermeneutic paradigm the thesis focuses on the subjective experiences of individuals; in terms of migrants' understanding of their own motivations, migration decisions, and the process of adjustment, and in terms of their understanding of other contemporary German migration experience. The study examines the migration narratives of a sample of thirty Germans who have migrated, or are at some stage of the process of migrating, to either Australia or Canada over the last twenty-five years. The specific analysis and interpretation of these accounts are based on the hermeneutic philosophy of meaning and discourse. The sample interviews reveal two levels of conceptualization in the subjects' accounts. At one level all migrants talk in a way that can be characterized as representing "common knowledge". On another level, the interviewees interpret their own personal motivations and experiences in a way which does not correspond to common knowledge. Interviewees commonly described the Neueinwanderer (new immigrant) as wealthy, arrogant business migrants, but none of the interviewees described themselves in those terms. In ii Australia it was commonly thought that Neueimvanderer have a difficult adjustment time, but most personal narratives related positive adjustment experiences. In Canada all interviewees believed that German immigrants had no great adjustment difficulties. The major finding of this thesis is that the conventional notions of linearity and finality with respect to migration need to be re-evaluated in the social science literature, government policies and common sense. The phenomenologic discussion reveals that modern migration, at least for certain groups to certain countries, is not a linear, discrete and final process. Instead, this thesis argues that migration is best seen as a comprehensive, recursive process of decision making, action (legal application and geographic move) and adaptation to a new environment. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ii Table of Contents iv List of Tables vi Acknowledgements vii I. Introduction 1 1. Objective of Study 3 2. Focus of Study .6 3. Context of Study 7 II. Fieldwork amongst German Immigrants in Australia and Canada 13 1. The Relationship between Researcher and Field work . 13 2. Heuristic Inquiries: Who are the Neueinwanderer? 16 3. Fieldwork Setting and Informants 18 4. The Ethnographic Problem: "Common Knowledge" and "Individual Experience 21 III. Theoretical and Methodological Framework 29 1. Migration Literature: Motivation and Decisionmaking 29 1. Anthropology and Sociology 30 2. Economics and Public Policy 31 2. Interpretation: Phenomenology and Hermeneutics 35 1. Interpretive Paradigm - Phenomenology 35 2. Interpretation - Hermeneutics and Meaning 39 3. Analysis of Fieldwork 43 IV. A History of German Immigration to Australia and Canada 48 1. An Introduction 48 1. Why the Historical Context? 48 2. The Historical Context of Immigration Policies 50 3. Who are the German Immigrants? 51 2. The History of German Immigration to Australia 54 1. The Development of German Communities up to 1945 58 Post-War Immigration ,66 Immigration Policies and German Immigration between 1945 and 1988 66 Return Migration 76 German Culture and Social Life 76 3. The History of German Immigration to Canada 81 1. The Development of German Communities up to 1945 83 iv 2. Post-War Immigration 92 Immigration Policies and German Immigration between 1945-1988 52 Return Migration 99 German Culture and Social Life 100 4. A Summary 103 V. Common Knowledge about German Immigrants 105 1. Australian Narratives 107 2. Canadian Narratives 129 3. Comparison between Australian and Canadian Narratives 140 VI. Individual Experience of German Immigrants 146 1. Australian Narratives 151 2. Canadian Narratives 175 3. Comparison between Australian and Canadian Narratives 211 VII. Concluding Remarks 218 VIII. Bibliography 228 v LIST OF TABLES 1. Informants in Australia and Canada 20 2. Catalogue of Themes: "Common Knowledge" .45 3. Themes and Sub-themes: "Individual Experience" 46 4. Birthplace of the Australian Population 56 5. Country of Citizenship of Settler Arrivals, 1945-1965, Australia 69 6. Total Immigrants to Australia, 1945-1988 70 7. Arrival of German Citizens, 1982/83-1987/88 74 8. Distribution of People of German Origin in Canada 87 9. Total Number of People of German Origin in Canada 88 10. Country of Citizenship, Arrivals. Canada, 1946-1984 93 11. Ten Leading Source-Countries of Immigrants, Canada 94 12. German Immigrants to Canada: Past Permanent Residence by Class, 1983-1987 97 vi To my Family and Friends in the New World and the Old and to Aidan, Rhiannon, Rory and Eirian vii ACKNO WLED GEMENTS This study has been "brewing" for quite a few years, during this whole period I have profited from numerous insightful and stimulating comments from teachers, collfflgiE > and friends. I am grateful to all of those who have contributed. First, I would like to thank all my informants who generously gave of their time, their memories and their opinions. Second, I wish to thank my supervisory committee members, Braxton Alfred and Bill McKellin, for continuous encouragement and advice. Above all, thanks to Elvi Whittaker who broadened and deepened my knowledge of philosophical and applied anthropology and steered me through the endless process of writing a thesis. Third, special thanks to Cyril Belshaw who suggested to me the need for a study on German migration. Finally, I thank the external examiners Heribert Adam, Tissa Fernando and Larry Cochran. Writing a thesis and having children poses special challenges which I could not have met without the help of my friends. I want to especially thank Anne-Marie Fenger for spirited discussions and practical help, Mary Byberg and Peter Fenger for their cheerful (and endless) support, and Marg Meikle for laughing, listening and helping. Most of all, I thank my husband Aidan Vining. Without his critical and insightful comments the thesis simply would not be what it is. vi n I. INTRODUCTION We stopped drinking and are now slowly re-gaining the trust of our elders-they are teaching us the old songs, dances and stories now. We don't need anthropologists anymore. You come from Germany- have you studied your own people yet? Freddie, at Alkali Lake When Freddie asked this question back in 1979,1 laughed. After all, I had just come from Germany for a year, intending to study the exotic native Indian cultures of the Northwest Coast and to get away from the Germans. However, I ended up staying after that year and, eventually, immigrated to Canada, living in Vancouver. The more I learned about Vancouver's ethnic diversity, the more I became interested in the reasons that brought so many immigrants to this city. I wondered why people would leave their family and friends and move to a distant country. And, yes, I turned to "my own people", and wondered how and why they had migrated. I learned of the long history of German immigration to Canada. I understood that, historically, Germans had been leaving behind poverty, political unrest and religious persecution and were searching for a better life abroad. But I began to wonder why Germans, nowadays, are continuing to migrate, albeit in much smaller numbers. Germany is one of the most prosperous countries in the world. It offers social security and a high standard of living. Why, then, do an average of 2,000 Germans a year leave family, friends and a comfortable lifestyle, move to Canada and consciously change their lives? This was the question with which I ventured into a comparative ethnographic study of German immigrants, focusing on their migration motivations, decision making and adjustment
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