Paper short abstract:

German children and youths having spent (most of) their lives in Africa are expected to fit in smoothly when 'returning back home'. I examine their experiences of (re-)integration, the views and attitudes they develop as well as some of their ways 'in to' and 'out of' German society.

Paper long abstract:

I am dealing with a group of (re-)migrant children and youths hardly mentioned in (re-)migration studies, namely children of Western background brought up in a non-Western environment before "returning" to a "home," which in many cases has never been or is no longer home to them. I deal with German children coming to live in Germany after having spent most of their childhood in Sub-Saharan Africa. Many of these children spent most of their social lives in German and/or international expatriate environments. I look at what it means to be brought up as a white child in Africa and how this experience affects (re-)migration to Germany. Upon "return" many of these children often find themselves in a dilemma: they are expected to be the same - speaking the same language and looking the same as everyone else - while their experiences, views, and ways of life are usually quite different from those of children and youths who have spent all their lives "at home" in Germany. Their difference is often neither recognized nor appreciated by teachers, peers, or their own families. What makes it even harder for them to find some comfort in their situation is the fact that compared to other groups of "real" migrants, it is usually more difficult for them to find others around them who share their experiences and problems. I examine the views and attitudes these children and youths develop in the course of (re-)integration and some of their ways "in to" and "out of" German society - including social isolation, self-exotization, multiple identifications, and idealization of one's former "real" home back in Africa.

I analyze whether and to what extent the notion of "TCK" - "Third Culture Kid" - which has been used for some time now to denote children brought up as (children of) expatriates - also labelled less favourably as "expat brats" - is appropriate to denote those under study.