ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with three minority groups in Germany, each different in terms of its historical and current discrimination experiences, legal status, socioeconomic integration, group identity, and political socialization: Danes, Sinti and Roma (also called Gypsies generically), and more-recenüy-apived immigrants or "guestworkers." Based on a concept of minority differentiation (through ascription and self-identity), the chapter describes minorities present sociocultural, economic, and political rights, including the current municipal suffrage debate and analyses of the de facto life chances of these minority groups. A special analysis also deals with the "European dimension," outlining the present social, economic, and political rights of immigrants in the European Union (EU) countries. The chapter focuses on intercultural education and its possible contribution to the development of political consciousness among both minorities and majorities. Legal policy reforms have to design the framework to accommodate these developments. Dual citizenship rights and political rights could support this kind of pluralist integration, at least during a period of transition.
