Responses to stigmatisation and boundary making: destigmatisation strategies of Turks in Germany

This article combines the concept of responses to stigmatisation with the boundary making approach. It differentiates situational and discursive destigmatisation strategies of ethnic minority members. The analysis of in-depth interviews with Turkish residents of Germany yields four dominant response types at the level of action: (1) confronting, (2) deemphasising, and (3) ignoring/avoiding. While these responses vary situationally, the fourth category of (4) boundary work subsumes discursive strategies of boundary making and boundary blurring. This is the first systematic analysis of Turkish minority members’ destigmatisation strategies. The analysis reveals personal and situational prerequisites of particular destigmatisation strategies. The article discusses commonalities and differences between Turks in Germany and ethnic minorities elsewhere.