Paper short abstract:

In Germany the sexual assaults that happened in Cologne have unleashed a serious debate. I look at the ways in which these events have become instrumentalized to make arguments against refugees. I look at the ways in which anthropology should draw on political critique to intervene into debates.

Paper long abstract:

In Germany, the sexual assaults that happened on New Year's Eve in Cologne have unleashed a variety of questions and debates: Who comes, from where, and under what conditions? Should the German government set an upper limit regarding the number of refugees? How can Germany ensure a move from a Willkommenskultur to an Integrationskultur, and how can it avoid - as has happened in the past - the emergence of "parallel societies" (Parallelgesellschaften)? In this talk I will look at the ways in which in Germany the events of Cologne have become politically instrumentalized to make arguments against the acceptance of immigrants and refugees, the kind of role sexuality - in particular male, Islamophobic, and Orientalist notions of sexuality - play in this debate, and how critical publics - including feminists - react to this debate. I also look at the ways in which anthropology needs to draw on a long and venerable tradition of political critique to intervene into existent and frequently harmful debates.