Conclusion

Summary

The conclusion outlines a collective civic national German identity, a “New We” that includes all citizens (departing from the exclusion e.g. of visible minority citizens in the lingering ethnobiological concept). As for its second meaning, the symbolic-emotional celebration of this New We, it argues that competing proposals (Leitkultur, Heimat, patriotism) are all essentialist and lost to the far Right, despite attempts by left-wingers to redeem them through redefinition. After deliberating once more whether Germany needs a national identity at all (it does), or whether it is postnational (it isn’t), the conclusion proposes that the contents of the New We be defined democratically and within the boundaries of the constitution. The conclusion closes with a utopian vision of open borders in which mobility has become a human right and a reminder that citizenship and passports are contingent – and that those least fortunate in “the birthright lottery” (Ayelet Shachar), the paperless, periodically be amnestied and naturalized as Germans.