A controversial, best-selling polemic in Germany, De-Integrate! is a battle cry against Jewish assimilation into a dominant culture that seeks to paint over the past—and a handbook for minorities on how to embrace their difference and resist rising nationalism, anti-Semitism, xenophobia, and racism.
Max Czollek’s
De-Integrate! is a polemical, often humorous examination of Jewish life in contemporary Germany that speaks to the position of minorities the world over. Rooted in sociological theory, the book offers an engaging and approachable critique of Germany’s much-lauded traditions of memory culture and
Vergangenheitsbewältigung—its “successful” negotiation of its Nazi past.
Although modern Reunified Germany presents itself as having overcome historical trauma and integrated its now diverse, multicultural society, Czollek argues that this public image is merely a “Theater of Integration”: showcasing those minoritized stories to bolster Germany’s positive self-image, while sidelining the true potential of the country’s radical diversity. Czollek posits that today’s German minorities must embrace their differences and “de-integrate” from mainstream society in order to counter the rise of rightwing nationalism.
On the one hand a stirring look at integration, belonging, and cultural diversity, and on the other a passionate denunciation of bigotry and virulent nationalism,
De-Integrate! speaks across cultural, racial, and national divisions and points to a livelier future for all of us.
A CONTROVERSIAL GERMAN BESTSELLER: Desintegriert Euch is a controversial bestseller in native Germany examining the actuality of modern Jewish life in the post-migrant country.
A ROUSING, POLEMIC BOOK OF THE CURRENT SOCIAL DEBATE: Czollek impressively reveals that Germany has not taken this reappraisal as seriously as many would like to believe, sparking an important debate in German-speaking countries and beyond on identity, discrimination and self-determination.
FINALIST FOR THE 2020 BAVARIAN BOOK AWARD: Desintegriert Euch was a finalist in the 2020 Bavarian Book Award in Nonfiction.
SHARP-TONGUED, PROVOCATIVE, AND UNAPOLOGETIC: In a sharp and refreshing way, Czollek adds to the voices of those authors who have been articulating their displeasure with the celebrated German culture of remembrance for years.
