ABSTRACT
This chapter examines some major aspects and determinants of the process in an attempt to establish whether the migration of guest workers to the Federal Republic is temporary labor migration or immigration. It analyzes some of the social and subjective phenomena and consequences of the migration movement, primarily, though not exclusively, with respect to the migrants themselves. The chapter discusses the demographic structure of the migrant population and its development, the development of “immigrant colonies” within the larger cities, motivational processes among the migrants concerning their intention to return to their native countries and political reactions and concepts of the state toward the migrant population. The very term “guest worker,” which has become the most widely accepted name for the labor migrants in the Federal Republic of Germany, carries with it the notion of a temporary sojourn. The method predominantly used is historical comparisons to determine whether the overall characteristics of the migration movement reflect temporary labor migration or immigration.
