In the German-speaking area, two categories of difference have played a central role up to now in the discourse on migration and integration: ethnicity and gender. Depending on the question and context, they are associated with each other in order to (re-)organize social relations and to establish processes of exclusion. Such categories of difference generate their own normality. They provide a social ‘recipe knowledge‘ that channels perception and serves as a guidepost in dealing with migration. For that reason, this strategic meshwork has a palpable impact on social reality.
The constitutive meaning of ethnic and gender-specific constructions for society is subjected to radical questioning; in their stead, the total society is made the point of departure.