NaDiRa Short Study: Transnational Racism

TRANSMIT module on transnational racism and its (trans)formations in Germany

National Monitoring of Discrimination and Racism (NaDiRa)

Project head: Dr. Ramona Rischke

Project team:

• Herbert Brücker
• Nader Talebi
• Ramona Rischke
• Julia Kleinewiese
• Ali Niroumand
• Firoozeh Farvardin
• Golriz Esmaeilpour

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Project description:

In our research project we analysed how and where transnational (anti-)racism manifests itself in conflicts among migrants and what influence racist experiences have that migrants have in their host country. In particular, we wanted to work out which strategies migrants in Germany use to distinguish themselves from other migrants. We focus on the largest groups of new immigrants from the Middle East: People from Syria, Afghanistan and Iran who came to Germany after 2011.

Results:

One's own migration route and experiences in the countries of origin and transit influence how racism and anti-racism are pronounced among migrants in Germany. Depending on the countries in which a person has lived, he or she was confronted, for example, with different types of nationalism, each of which goes hand in hand with different forms of demarcation from supposed "others".

Political, ethnic and religious borders also play a role - but not in the same way for all migrants. For some Syrians, the question of whether or not an Iranian supports the current Syrian regime is most likely more relevant than ethnic or religious issues. On the other hand, due to the long history of anti-Arab racism in Iran, for some Iranians the political position of the Syrians they meet is less important than their racialised origin or ethnicity.

Other key factors are existing (racist) discourses on immigration in Germany, for example the dominant narrative of "good" vs. "bad" migrants, and institutional practices that build on the dominant discourses, such as the distribution of socio-economic participation opportunities based on nationalities.

Surprising insights:

We had expected that sub-religious differences, for example between Shiites and Sunnis, would play an important role in demarcation strategies. But the results show that other differences and commonalities are much more important, for example class differences and political attitudes. This is particularly interesting because it challenges common narratives about the conflict in the Middle East, according to which there is perpetual sectarian war and division along religious lines.

In addition, we had suspected that dominant racist discourses in Germany would have a more direct impact on migrants' strategies of exclusion, such as widespread Islamophobia. However, indirect effects through state and transnational migration policies are also of great importance.

Relevance for practice:

Our findings draw attention to the fact that racism does not only emanate from the host society: racism also has inter-migrant dimensions. Therefore, it is important to promote transnational spaces and communities in order to strengthen anti-racist alliances both among migrants themselves and with the host society.

Another finding of the project is that policies also affect how racism is reproduced among migrants in Germany, for example the unequal distribution of resources and prospects of staying based on country of origin. This insight should be incorporated into the evaluation of the measures. 

Short studies in preparation for the racism monitor:

In order to prepare a comprehensive racism monitor, DeZIM called on academics* from the DeZIM research community in 2020 to develop innovative study ideas. These should extend existing research projects, pursue new and innovative approaches or build an infrastructure to research racism. By 2021, more than 120 researchers at the six locations of the DeZIM research community had conducted a total of 34 short studies. These are divided into six thematic priorities:

• Health system
• Education system and labour market
• Institutional racism
• Dealing with experiences of racism
• Participation and the media
• Racist ideologies and attitudes

Funding: Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (Third-party funding)