Paper long abstract:

Berlin was and is a prominent reference for debates in Germany on the "problems of multiculturalism." Today, Berlin's city government embraces "culture and diversity" as resource for regional development, drawing on policy precepts of the creative and intercultural city. At the same time, however, Berlin's former minister of finance contests immigrant belonging with the statement that "many Turks and Arabs in this city have no productive function." His remark is indicative of the contradictions at the heart of the (neo)liberal approach to culture. In the attempt to create cosmopolitan place conducive to economic innovation and competitiveness, it demarcates conditions of belonging of both culturalized and socioeconomic status. In order to count as diversity to be supported, those categorized as different have to engage in "intercultural dialogue" and "not be dependent on social security." The paper examines this approach and its implications through the lens of Berlin's regional development programs.