This dissertation is a study of encounters between Germans and immigrants to Germany. Specifically I am interested in how Germans are coming to terms with the changing cultural dynamics of group identity and how notions of “Germanness” are created, negotiated, and contested. I take as my point of departure the postcolonial observation that hegemonic representations of “others” are simultaneously projects promoting particular notions of “self.” Based on ethnographic research in Berlin, Germany between 1998 and 1999, I explore three different sites of German discursive encounters with foreign residents: (1) The neighborhoods of Berlin-Mitte and Berlin-Kreuzberg; (2) A conservative political action protesting dual citizenship; (3) The efforts of an east Berlin anti-racist initiative to promote the integration of foreign residents. Drawing on a variety of theoretical perspectives including feminist and poststructuralist theorization of identity, critical discourse analysis, urban anthropology, and race and whiteness studies, each chapter analyses a different moment in which particular notions of Germanness are constituted in opposition to representations of foreignness. By presenting a collection of moments instead of focusing attention on a single instance I convey both the fractured experience of urban ethnography while demonstrating that the discursive manifestations of German identity emerge in many different places and in many different ways. Through these examples I explore how certain discourses homogenize the German population while other discourses reveal fissures within the category of “German,” specifically between and east and west Germans. I then conclude the dissertation with the argument that each of the various discussions presented can be seen as part of a discourse in which notions of “foreigner” and “German” are racialized. With this work, I endeavor to contribute to the postcolonial call to question the asymmetrical relations of power, to disrupt assumptions of separate and bounded social and cultural entities, and to reveal the relational nature of conceptions of difference.

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Humanistic methods of interpretive anthropology are used to analyze the present situation of one Eastern European ethnic group, the "Saxon" Germans of Transylvania in Romania. Internal critique of Saxon culture, Romanian socialism and western society reveals common concerns with concepts of East and West; freedom and loyalty; German identity; and family and ethnic group solidarity, but different concepts of the individual and society. Material context and historical perspective are brought to bear, revealing unintended consequences of purposeful actions and profound contradictions within the ethnic group. Rewriting of history is explored as historical and political process; also, the management of multiple loyalties and their inherent contradictions. Ethnic group formation through Renaissance and Reformation in the sixteenth century is examined as well. Consequences of incorporation into imperial relations, including the liberal response in the nineteenth century, are discussed. The rise of Hungarian and Romanian nationalism in the latter half of the nineteenth century, and the Saxon response of economic and political gravitation towards Germany set the stage for twentieth century conflicts, and the confusion that arises concerning Saxon political identity. A grave consequence of nationalism and war was the separation of Saxon families, with some members residing in Western Europe, and some at home in Romania at the end of World War II. Saxon participation in socialist development is examined, especially as it has proceeded in Marienburg (Romanian: Feldioara) in Brasov county. The ethnic community is observed to be in the contradictory situation of demographic disruption combined with residential stability of the remnant population during the industrialization process of the post war years, during which Marienburg has been transformed from a peasant village to a worker-peasant town. Elderly Saxons, working parents and children are observed to be influenced in different ways by the transition to socialism and by images of the West that come to them through visiting western relatives. The role of intellectuals in both maintaining and transforming the ethnic group in the socialist context is explored. Finally, the emigration process is examined in the context of relations of detente between Romania and the West, and is observed to contain all the conflicts outlined in preceding chapters. Solidarity is the keystone of Saxon culture; but family and group solidarity becomes impossible to achieve when relatives in both the West and in Romania invoke solidarity as a reason to stay or to leave, respectively. Tolerance and harmony are concepts of Saxon culture meant to guide interethnic relations, but both are eroded in the context of a divided Europe.

The most salient--and the most politically troublesome--aspect of contemporary Catalan society is its division into two main groups: the largely Catalan middle class and the largely non-Catalan, Castilian-speaking working class, which defines itself as "Spanish" and is defined by ethnic Catalans as "immigrant." Class conflict in Catalonia is not new, nor is the failure of the workers' movement of Catalonia and political Catalanism to identify with each other; but these strains are exacerbated by the fact that the cleavage lines of class, language, and culture have become coterminous since the early 1950s, when "immigrants" began to arrive in large numbers. Since the 1977 elections to the Spanish Parliament, which marked Spain's transition from dictatorship to democracy, any political party that hopes to command a significant following in Catalonia has been obliged to address this problem. Catalan nationalism is approached as a cultural system; that is, as a way of constructing and commenting upon social and cultural reality. In the context of the political events of 1979 and 1980, it emerges as a process of redefining and reinterpreting collective identity. As Catalonia's indigenous political institutions were restored through the approval of the Statute of Autonomy by referendum and elections to the Catalan Parliament, the question "Who is Catalan?" became central to the Catalan political process. The answers--especially the ones respecting the relationship between language and identity--offered by the representatives of Catalonia's political parties had a good deal to do with their political fortunes. Special attention is paid to the spectacular rise of the Catalan socialists in the 1977 elections to the Spanish Cortes, and their equally dramatic failure to gain control of the Catalan Parliament three years later. The imprecise nature of the relationship between the social order and its cultural representations, and the indeterminacy inherent in ideological systems makes it possible for interested parties--in this case, political parties--to attempt to shape a reality better suited to their immediate purposes. This theoretical framework provides a basis for understanding the dynamics of nationalist movements in particular and symbolic systems in general.

This dissertation explores the definition and persistence of small community, as a unit of anthropological analysis and in the lives of the Cochin Paradesi Jews of South India. Ethnographic fieldwork in India and Israel shows their successful transition from one world to another, as they migrate to Israel. Pride in their history, boundary flexibility, continuity of folk practice, and active participation of most community members in ritual and decision-making contribute to reconstruction of the Paradesi-Cochinite community there. Ethnohistorical background is provided on their 400 years in South India, where about 50 of them still live. External boundaries have been maintained in interactions with outsiders and struggles to determine who is an outsider, especially in relation to issues of conversion and the influence of the Indian caste system. Community identity has undergone consolidation in recent years with a stress on "code for conduct" rather than "natural substance". Internal dynamics of community life are characterized by geographical unity, a central institution (the synagogue), folklore and folk practice, and traditional hospitality and communication patterns. A case study of the ritual of Passover preparations illustrates the interaction of external boundary maintenance and internal group solidarity. About 165 people make up the Israeli branch of the community, which lacks geographical unity or any central institution. Different external boundaries are stressed in this Jewish environment. New members are welcomed if they are able to adjust to the code for conduct, which features continuity of folk practice, a distinctive communication style, appreciation of community history, and a strong network of mutual aid and complex visiting patterns. Case studies of Passover preparations and community parties in Israel show continuities and changes in ritual practice. Throughout the study, women's importance in community persistence is emphasized, along with their leading role in social change.

In many areas of the world tourism development has become a key component in national economic planning programs. While much attention has been given to assessing the economic costs and benefits of tourism, the linkages between social, cultural, and environmental change are poorly understood; long-term, nonquantifiable, or indirect impacts of development are rarely considered and a myriad of social, economic and environmental crises have emerged from development efforts. In the context of this general problem, I set two objectives in this dissertation. First, I present a systematic approach to the study and assessment of the less-quantifiable impacts of development. Second, I present an empirical case of tourism development in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands which uses this method to document the ties between current conflicts, crises and the tourism development process. Specifically, I use a political ecological perspective and resource relations framework to look at the process and effects of change in the value, use, access and control of critical resources in three separate case studies. In the rural community study, I document the changes in land resource relations from 1917 to the present, and discuss the consequences of increasing non-native control over land resources. In the fisheries resource study, I present a case of conflict among artisanal fishermen over access and use rights of fishery resources. Traditional resource relations are contrasted with the present pattern, and social tensions and conflicts are tied to the tourism development context. In the tourism resort development study, I describe an attempt to construct a hotel adjacent to a popular public beach, and analyze the subsequent course of political action taken to reverse the development process. Together, these studies document the role tourism has played in changing the value and use, and transforming the balance of group access and control, over critical resources in St. Thomas. This dissertation, with its focus on the process and adverse costs of tourism development, explores problems of relevance for other developing tourist economies. In redefining and using the political ecological orientation to study the development process, the theoretical contributions of this dissertation lie in its demonstration of the value and importance of considering the cultural variables which influence political economic power relationships.