Zwischen Solidarität und Paternalismus

Ein postkolonialer Blick auf kirchliches Sprechen in der deutschen Migrationsgesellschaft

Abstract

The churches with their migration-friendly attitude are challenged by racist and xenophobic attitudes in German society. In addition to the clear distancing from such positions, the question of reasons for their occurrence is relevant for them. Postcolonial theorists react to this issue by referring to patterns of thought of colonial origin that continue to have an effect in the present. This connection between xenophobia and colonialism is made plausible by the reception of postcolonial concepts with regard to dealing with migration in Germany. It becomes visible how the lack of confrontation with the consequences of the colonial period continues to influence attitudes towards people from former colonial areas. Subsequently, the exemplary investigation of two documents of the German Bishops' Conference on migration from a post-colonial perspective shows to what extent church discourse, too, ignores contexts of colonial origin and reproduces corresponding attitudes. Finally, thus, possible conclusions that may result from this analysis for church discourse in order to position itself even more clearly against xenophobia are presented.