With this volume, Andreas Kemper and Heike Weinbach present an introduction to the concept of classism. Classism, as a hitherto little-known term in Germany, refers here to “individual, institutional, and cultural discrimination and oppression based on actual, presumed, or ascribed social or educational status.”(publisher’s book description). In the book, people’s experiences of classism are discussed as a societal, structural problem and are considered and analyzed together with overlapping forms of discrimination such as racism and sexism. Andreas Kemper/Heike Weinbach 2009: Klassismus. An introduction. Münster: Unrast. If you don’t have a bookstore worth supporting near you, you can also buy the…
Author: glokal e.V.
How does anti-Muslim racism work in Germany? As part of the “Inter-View” project, young people from various organizations approached this question. In a series of workshops, conducted by the ReachOut association, they explored and shared their own experiences and strategies of resistance. Furthermore, interview questions were developed, which the participants then asked each other as well as friends and acquaintances. The result of the project is documented in the brochure Blicke reichen – Antimuslimischer Rassismus in Deutschland , where it can be downloaded and read in pdf format. ReachOut – Victim Counseling and Education against Right-Wing Extremism, Racism and Anti-Semitism…
The anthology Sister Outsider brings together for the first time key essays and speeches by Black, feminist, lesbian poet and activist Audre Lorde. Her work is considered an important part of the development of contemporary feminist theory and negotiates different social categories of difference. The 15 selected texts in the book, some of which are published here for the first time, discuss common experiences of sexism, racism, ageism, heterosexism, and class as starting points for emancipatory action and for change. Lorde’s seminal lyrics can be described in her own words as an appeal: “[…]never close our eyes to the terror,…
“Anti-Semitism does not start when Jewish cemeteries are desecrated or people are physically attacked, but already with verbal lapses in the sports club, at the regulars’ table or among work colleagues.”(Description on the project website). The Amadeu Antonio Foundation’s Nothing Against Jews toolbox is designed to counter anti-Semitic statements and comments on the Internet. On the website, common anti-Semitic statements are taken up, debunked and argumentatively refuted. On online platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, the argumentation aid can be used directly to expose and refute anti-Semitic statements by reference. Common arguments addressed and countered on the website include: I…
The initiative No Humboldt 21! has published under the name of ” Decolonial Objections to the Humboldt Forum”, designed a poster campaign to point out the problematic contents of the “prestige project”. “Collecting” cultural and art objects was one of the favorite pastimes of many “explorers” and colonialists. Thus, a large number of the ethnological objects to be exhibited in the Humboldt Forum in the reconstructed Berlin Palace were “acquired” during the colonial period – a considerable proportion came directly from the former German colonies. In many cases, however, valuable cultural assets were not given away or sold voluntarily. They…
In his work “Critique of Black Reason”, the Cameroonian philosopher and political scientist Achille Mbembe sets out clearly and comprehensively what the historical and current connection between capitalism and racism is. He elaborates developmental stages of the project of European racialization of Black people and finally names and describes a “Black Reason” of capitalism. In doing so, he also examines how ever new categories of underclassification are introduced, exchanged, replaced, and made functional in terms of neoliberal logics. Achille Mbembe 2014: Critique of Black Reason. Berlin: Suhrkamp. If you don’t have a bookstore worth supporting near you, you can also…
Noah Sow is. Artist, musician, writer, producer, lecturer, media practitioner, theorist, activist, motivational speaker. Her areas of focus are: Art, critical media analysis, constructions of normality, and analysis and practices of anti-racism and decolonization. (Self-description by Noah Sow on her blog). On the website she writes, among other things, about racism-critical work and strategies for resistance and empowerment by and for people affected by racism. One of her more recent blog postsis about writing her book “Germany Black and White” as a ploy: “A core component of racism is that it creates a system in which those who are oppressed…
Practitioners and researchers who would like to refer to the paradigm “intersectionality” in different contexts can use the portal Intersectionality – Research Platform and Practice Forum for Intersectionality and Interdependencies visit Opportunities for information, collaboration and networking are available here. “The portal promotes innovative theory building, mutual theory-practice awareness, and critical self-reflection, and contributes to cross-thematic and cross-disciplinary exchange. For contributions that are close to the intersectional approach, the section Good Neighborhood was established.” (Self-description of the project) Specifically, opportunities for networking via a research platform are available, for example. Further, opportunities for online discussions are provided via e-conferences, discussion…
After the book “Between the World and Me” by Ta-Nehisi Coates was published in the USA in 2015, it has also been available in German since the beginning of 2016. Out of the reality of ongoing racial discrimination and violence against Black people in the U.S., the author writes his manifesto, addressing his 15-year-old son in the form of a letter. What follows is a relentless and harrowing inventory of the racism-ridden social conditions in which both find themselves as Black people. In addressing his son, Coates prepares him for ongoing experiences of marginalization and danger as they currently exist…
This volume presents an overview of the emergence and application of racist practices and ideologies from antiquity to the present. “Although certain groups were excluded as early as antiquity and the Middle Ages, a coherent history of racism does not begin until the emergence of the concept of race and its application to human groups in the late fifteenth century. From European expansion through the slave trade to the imperial, national, and totalitarian contexts of the 19th and 20th centuries, racism has continued to evolve. There is no end in sight to its history.” (Publisher’s book description). Christian Geulen 2014:…
Black Looks, edited by bell hooks, brings together a collection of critical essays that question the grand narratives in their constitution and bring in (alternative) perspectives on Blackness, Black subjectivity, and Whiteness. In the book, particular emphasis is placed on how Blackness and Black people are portrayed and functionalized in film and television, fashion, literature, and music production. The aim of the authors is to intervene in the discourse shaped by racist constructions and representations. bell hooks (ed.) 1992: Black Looks. Race and Representation. Boston: South End Press.
The volume was published to mark the 20th anniversary of the death of Black lesbian poet and feminist author Audre Lorde. Included in the book is a collection of previously published and previously unpublished texts by Audre Lorde. “Her essays, poems, lectures, and stories are incisive and resolute, casting an unsparing eye on reality while always conveying hope.” Common to all texts is “[…] a call to language and active action that could not be more urgent. Like many of Audre Lorde’s appeals, writings, and calls, it was formative for the (international) women’s movement and especially for the Black women’s…