German chancellor Angela Merkel has been widely criticized for her policy accepting approximately one million refugees in 2015 alone. (1) Groups such as the right wing Pegida group, discussed in detail in "Like a Poison: How anti-immigrant Pegida is diving Dresden,” criticize Merkel’s policy as allowing “suicide bombers and economic freeloaders” to come pouring in.(2) Many of the critiques of Merkel and much of the support she has generated is highly gendered and uses slogans such as “open your hearts” and “the dignity of humans in sacrosanct.” She was also portrayed as extremely “weak” or, really just reacting to natural human emotions, when she pat a crying 14 year old girl refugee on the shoulder during a public forum called “Living Well in Germany.”(3) After this incident, twitter exploded with strange criticism about how Merkel comforted this teenager as if she were a kitten, with the hashtag #MerkelStreichelt. She is often critiqued as weak on traditional foreign policy and the exposure of her citizens to unnecessary risk. It's important to analyze the effects of this language and what it actually means to adopt a feminist foreign policy. Has Merkel adopted a feminist foreign and domestic policy? What does this mean for global female leadership? What does it mean for male leaders who begin to adopt a less "traditional" and more "feminized" foreign policy?
Firstly, we should examine why Merkel has made the decision to accept the greatest number of refugees out of the European Union. Was this merely an act of charity exposing Merkel's soft, sensitive, "woman" side? I would argue absolutely not. In fact, I would argue that, while the West does have several women in head of state positions, it is a rare occurrence where these women are elected because of how "feminine" they are. I would even argue that Merkel and Hillary Clinton have both gotten to their levels of influence in Western political spheres because they learned to play the game like men, or they have adopted masculinized policies. Clinton has been notorious for her “strong" stance on foreign policy. Merkel has had generally conservative economic and social policies including equal pay and family leave. (4)
The reasons Merkel is really supporting this "mass migration" (if it can even be called mass in comparison to other countries taking in many more people per population, such as Hungary) is because the German economy desperately needs this mass workforce in order to continue being a large exporter in machinery, vehicles, chemicals, and household equipment. Germany benefits from a highly skilled labor force. Take a look at the German population pyramid below. (5)
Elderly people are living longer and younger couples are having fewer children-- a problem seen in many developed countries including Japan and the United States.(6) Merkel is actually making a brilliant economic move by allowing young refugees to fill this lacking workforce and legally begin paying taxes that will support older generations.
What Pegida and most the far right-wing groups do not understand is that this is not just some peace and love for all humanity feminized foreign policy that would only be implemented by a woman weak on foreign policy with a large compassionate heart, but a economically brilliant leader who understands that incorporating new cultures into German society will never "destroy" German culture... but a lack of workers will destroy Germany's thriving economy and cause it to become a much weaker power with significantly less influence if some major changes aren't made to expand the young workforce.
Citations
(1) “Germany on course to accept one million refugees in 2015,” The Guardian, Dec. 7, 2015. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/08/germany-on-course-to-accept-one-million-refugees-in-2015
(2) Kate Connolly, “Like a poison: how anti-immigrant Pegida is diving Dresden,” The Guardian. Oct. 27, 2015.
(3) Amy Davidson, “Merkel and the Crying Girl: Five Lessons,” The New Yorker, July 21, 2015. http://www.newyorker.com/news/amy-davidson/merkel-and-the-crying-girl-five-lessons
(4) Ulrike Helwerth. “Merkel’s failure on gender equality,” The Guardian. Sept. 29, 2009. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/sep/22/angela-merkel-gender-equality
(5) CIA World Factbook: Germany. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gm.html
(6) Ibid.
I agree with everything you are saying Mary Grace. I think Chancellor Merkel is not only considering the safety of these migrants, but the stability of their government as well. I completely agree that the stability of a German workforce is a driving force as to why Germany has been on track to accept so many refugees. To build on your statements I think an influential reason as to why Germany has become a bigger actor in the refugee debate is because its history. Just a two short generations ago Germany was it a major actor in two world wars, but it caused the largest genocide in history. The history of World War II and the Holocaust still resonate as a major pitfall in Germany's history so it wants to learn from these events and help the victims in similar atrocities. Overall I completely agree with your arguments as to Germany's increased asylum programs to bolster its economy.
ReplyDeleteThanks for bringing this excellent point up, Joseph. I was considering adding this exact point in actually, but the post was getting lengthy. I have heard (particularly from a good friend of mine in Berlin) that many Germans view this acceptance of refugees as a way of healing the country's wounds of the Holocaust. It is quite an interesting dynamic, particularly because of how drastically conceptions of "the other" has changed in a few decades.
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