From Gastarbeiter to European Expatriates: Greek Migrant Communities in Germany and their Socio-political Integration before and after 1992 Maastricht Treaty on European Union

This interdisciplinary thesis compares two different intra-European immigration policies and regimes regarding the Greek migrant communities of Germany; that of the guest-worker recruitment, a result of international bilateral agreements between West Germany and Greece, and that of European expatriation, a bloc actor policy that transformed the previous migratory framework and its results immensely. The former policy was very popular during the years of European Unification and the pre-Maastricht era of European integration, while the latter became the norm in the post-Maastricht era of Europeanisation and the integration of the European Union. By extension, this research engages in the comparison of two different ages of European Unification, via employing interdisciplinary methodological approaches and theoretical frameworks.
The empirical examination of the Greek Diaspora and its communities in Germany was instrumental in unearthing the emergent patterns, which demonstrate that the construction of a common European identity, contributed significantly to the socio-political integration of Greeks in the country. In that respect, the processes of Europeanisation and European Integration have demonstrably been decisive in the inclusion and integration of European nationals in their host state, particularly those who migrated under previous regimes, such as that of the Gastarbeiter, which constitutes a paradigm shift. At the same time, this thesis examines the role that the social and cultural background of Greek migrants has played, as a variable of integration. Greeks have a long diasporic history and tradition and are among the very few ethnicities that encompass and demonstrate significant examples of all types of classification concerning Diasporas, as well as non-static diasporic typologies, as in many cases their diasporic communities have undergone multiple transformations within the context of a constantly under-construction collective identity process.