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Podcast: New Books in German Studies
Episode: Maria Adamopoulou, "The Greek Gastarbeiter in the Federal Republic of Germany (1960–1974)" (de Gruyter, 2024)
Description: Was migration to Germany a blessing or a curse? The main argument of this book is that the Greek state conceived labor migration as a traineeship into Europeanization with its shiny varnish of progress. Jumping on a fully packed train to West Germany meant leaving the past behind. However, the tensed Cold War realities left no space for illusions; specters of the Nazi past and the Greek Civil War still haunted them all. Adopting a transnational approach, The Greek Gastarbeiter in the Federal Republic of Germany (1960–1974) (de Gruyter, 2024) retargets attention to the sending state by exploring how the Gr...