Immigration is an integral part of national identity in settler societies such as Canada. But in countries where identity is defined more in ethnic terms, such as Germany, the presence of immigrants has only recently begun to be acknowledged. Taking these two countries as case studies, Immigration Dialectic explores the impact of immigration on national identity as imagined through media-based discourse.

Harald Bauder argues that while both countries rely on negative depictions of immigrants to construct a positive image of the self, the ways in which Canada and Germany construct national identity in relation to representations of immigrants are significantly different. Bauder introduces a sophisticated framework of Hegelian dialectics for the growing interdisciplinary literature regarding media perspectives on immigration and national identity. Providing close analysis of themes such as belonging, economic impacts, and national security, Immigration Dialectic will appeal to anyone interested in contemporary discussions on immigration.

‘This book is relevant to the discussion of how to understand the increasing tendency among liberal democracies to impose civic integration requirements on the immigrant population such as  language skills, nationality tests, and procedural commitment to liberal-democratic principles.’ - Marianne Takle (Migration Studies – vol 2:01:2014)

Harald Bauder is an associate professor in the Graduate Program in Immigrant and Settlement Studies and the Department of Geography at Ryerson University.