NaDiRa short study: With the burkini in the swimming pool

Everyday Racism in Public Swimming Pools - Forms and Organisational Processing Practices

National Monitoring of Discrimination and Racism (NaDiRa)

Project team:

• Ines Michalowski
• Max Oliver Schmidt
• Serkan Ünsal

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Project description:

Some public swimming pools ban burkinis and thus confirm the discriminatory attitudes of some users. On the other hand, other pools do not allow themselves to be pressured and allow Muslim guests to visit the pool. To explain these differences, we investigated which forms of racism and Islamophobia exist in public swimming pools, which organisational cultures lead to everyday racist practices and how the pools deal with racism between users.

Results:

In public swimming pools, the burkini is a frequent object of dispute. Women who wear this garment are confronted with the fact that it is not "correct" swimwear. In some of the swimming pools surveyed, users complained about Muslim women only after the burkini had been allowed. This indicates that the new garment made them excessively visible as a group.

The way everyday racism and discrimination are dealt with in swimming pools varies. Basically, the swimming pools differ in whether they perceive discrimination as a problem at all. We were able to identify four handling strategies:

1. Rejection: The swimming pool rejects the discrimination. The pool reacts to complaints and false accusations by trying to impart knowledge about the burkini or by asking discriminating users to leave the pool.
2. Appeasement: The pool tries to pacify the organisational microcosm by responding to complaints. The discriminated group is controlled more in order to deprive the discriminating group of the possibility to complain.
3. Laisser-faire: The swimming pool does not interfere in conflicts. This is how discriminatory majorities prevail. The swimming pool is no longer used by the discriminated group.
4. Institutionalisation: The swimming pool and its staff agree with the discriminating users. Discriminatory practices are translated into organisational structures, for example with a burkini ban.

Surprising insights:

As far as our qualitative study can show at all, discrimination in swimming pools is mainly directed against Muslim women in the burkini. It is often a lack of knowledge about the burkini that leads to hostility.

Swimming pools can overcome discrimination even if their own staff is initially indifferent or even hostile towards the burkini or other body practices. The swimming pool as a meeting place can cause conflicts, but it can also promote communication between different groups and make different lifeworlds visible.

Significance for practice:

Our findings can help to ensure that vulnerable groups and religious minorities are protected from attacks in public facilities. Swimming pool managers, responsible city councils and lifeguards should address discrimination in their facilities. In a discrimination-sensitive swimming pool, diverse body practices become visible. The participation of different groups can lead to new, diverse and plural norms and body concepts in public space.

Short studies in preparation for the Racism Monitor:

In order to prepare a comprehensive racism monitor, DeZIM called on scholars 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 for Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (Third-party funding)