Moral Economy and Knowledge Production in a Security Bureaucracy

Abstract

Germany's 1999/2000 citizenship law marked a shift in the country's self-definition from a non-immigration country to an immigration country. The general opening up of the German nation-state was soon followed by new closures, however. Discussions began on who should, and who should not be accepted as members of the re-invented nation-state. The debate centred on Muslim immigrants. How can Muslim immigrants become part of Germany when they adhere to a religion (and culture) with a long historical position as the quintessential other to European culture and society? What place, in particular, should be assigned to Muslim organisations that provide for doctrine and ritual? As the new Islamic presence in Germany was considered a key challenge for maintaining public security and order, the Ministry of the Interior took the lead in policy development. Within the ministry, security agencies, particularly the Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Verfassungsschutz) played a decisive role in generating knowledge about the newcomers and the structure and formation of Islamic politics. In this paper, I analyse the ways in which security knowledge is produced in the Ämter für Verfassungsschutz, the “Offices for the Protection of the Constitution”.1 I apply an emic approach, asking how bureaucrats in this institution perceive and categorise Islam, to show how this knowledge constitutes the foundation for various security strategies. I begin by sketching the mission and the vision of the Verfassungsschutz and exploring how ideas