Patterns of Presenting and Experiencing Racism in Germany

The presentation is based on empirical findings of my PhD project which deals with biographies of people who experience racism – and find themselves in different outsider positions in various settings in Germany. The research is concentrated on reconstructing different ways of dealing with racism in interrelation with other mechanisms of in- and exclusion.

To approach this interest I conducted biographical-narrative interviews (combined with a case-reconstructive approach of analysis). In my biographical research I draw specific attention to the interplay between existing power relations, discourses related to racism and life histories of People of Color. In this context I see biography as a set of experiences which are linked with specific present and past discourses within a specific historical constellation.

My empirical findings show that People of Color in Germany form different patterns of presenting their outsider positions in society (depending on their biographical experiences and also the interview setting resp. framing), e.g.:

-          taking the position of being a member of an outsiders grouping

-          see yourself in an outstanding position

-          see yourself as a member of an established grouping.

In my presentation I will introduce selected types of these patterns in their genesis during the life history. With this contribution I would like to give an understanding of the complexity of the connection between power-relations and positions and their shifts in different constellations