Anja Benedikt

Imaginings of Identity: The Construction of National Identity in the Immigrant Integration Discourse in Germany

Supervisors: Professor Stefan Wolff and Dr Nando Sigona

Anja is in the writing-up of her doctoral thesis. Her PhD research investigates the contemporary German immigrant integration discourse in the media and how national identity is constructed within this discourse. Anja’s thesis argues that immigration and the presence of immigrants in society are inherently linked to questions of national identity. Drawing on the framework of critical discourse analysis and theories of nationalism and boundary drawing, it is the purpose of her thesis to reveal unequal power structures and instances of exclusion of different groups of people in society.

Profile

After completing a BA (Hons) in International Management with European Language and Society at the University of Stirling, which included exchange visits to Flinders University, Australia and La Salle, Mexico, Anja came to the University of Birmingham in 2011 for starting her MA in European Studies. Her dissertation of the MA entitled "How would an ethically defensible immigration policy of the European Union look like?".

For her PhD project which investigates identity construction in the German immigrant integration discourse, Anja has won a 1+3 ESRC award. Within the first year of the MA in Social Research, her dissertation analysed the Discourse on Romanian and Bulgarian immigration in the UK and Germany. She is currently in the writing-up stage of her thesis.

Qualifications

BA (Hons) International Management with European Language and Society, University of Stirling, First Class
MA European Studies, University of Birmingham with Distinction
MA in Social Research