The day before yesterday, different groups and individuals intervened at the shareholders’ meeting of BAYER (the “most valuable” German company) in Cologne. On the page of the Coordination against BAYER Dangers some speeches can be found, including those held on behalf of glokal e.V. on“Profit in the slipstream of a population policy revival in international development policy” and on“Hormone implants and double standards in the global contraception market“.
Tag Archives: Germany
Guide critical of racism published
Initiated by the IMAFREDU research project of Dr. Elina Marmer, last year a collective of authors, among others with the participation of glokal, developed a “Racism Critical Guide for Reflecting on Existing and Creating New Didactic Teaching and Learning Materials for School and Out-of-School Educational Work on Blackness, Africa and the African Diaspora”. It is now available digitally and will soon be available in print.
The urgency of a racism-critical revision of school educational materials was highlighted in a textbook study Migration and Integration published in March by the Federal Government Commissioner for Migration, Refugees and Integration, Minister of State Aydan Özoğuz. The study shows a great need to catch up in the production of textbooks in many areas. for example, in the representation and address of the German migration society:
“Thus, a key finding is that in the textbooks analyzed, migration is primarily problematized as conflictual as well as crisis-ridden. The approach of presenting migration-based diversity as normality is rarely found.” Continue reading
Petition concerning Hereros’ & Namas’ Genocide Reparations from Germany
Today, activists are delivering a petition to Germany Embassies and General-Consulates all over the world to support the just quest by Herero representatives for reparations from Germany for the German colonial genocide. In Berlin, the petition is handed over by the NGO alliance
“Genocide has no statute of limitations!” (see the press release). On this occasion, the German-Namibian website www.genocide-namibia.net is launched.
Commemorative march on 28.2. in Berlin
Next Saturday, 28.2. the 9th commemorative march in memory of the African victims of enslavement, human trafficking, colonialism and racist violence will take place in Berlin, called by an alliance around the Central Council of the African Community.
In this context also the reference to the current petition of the Ovaherero and Nama with the demand for reparations for the genocide of 1904-1908.
Carnival: Why blackfacing is still racist in 2015
The jury for the “Anglicism of the Year” has chosen “blackfacing” as the defining loanword of 2014. Little by little, an understanding is thus also emerging in Germany that racist caricaturing of black people has a tradition in this country. Especially at carnival time. Tahir Della, Jamie Schearer and Hadija Haruna – active with the Initiative Black People in Germany – have published an article on this in MiGAZIN.
Black Studies in Bremen
On February 6, there was a community statement by Black scholars and organizations in which a radical critique of Black Studies Bremen was voiced.
“We, the undersigned here, condemn the manner in which Black Studies is being mobilized and pressed into service at the University of Bremen. Our critique is specifically directed at the organization, handling, and planned implementation of a Creative UnitNew Black Diaspora Studies: Ethical and Aesthetic Challenges of the 21st Century. […]
Apart from an antiquated understanding of gender that certainly cannot be called intersectional, current hiring practices constitute blatant affirmative action for white academics, while the German academic enterprise systematically excludes Black scholars and scholars of color and can continue to do so due to nonexistent legal mechanisms that would ensure equal participation of underrepresented/marginalized groups in university life as students and as faculty members.”
As a first consequence to the demands, the research group Black Knowledges (formerly Black Studies) disbanded yesterday. The group writes that it accepts the criticism, stating, “It has become clear to us that the Black Knowledges research group is part of the problem of racism rather than part of its solution.”
Sharing says nothing about shares
Ethnic settlers in rural areas
The Amadeo Antonio Foundation, with its current brochure “Völkische Siedler/innen im ländlichen Raum. Basic knowledge and action strategies” published an important publication on the subject of right-wing extremism and ecology.
“The present brochure is a tool in the sense of the promoting federal program “Cohesion through Participation”: it gives an overview of the activities of Völkische Siedler, their argumentations and identifying features. By explaining the background of Völkische Siedler, describing examples and everyday situations, and offering approaches to strategies for action, the brochure provides local activists with assistance in their efforts to combat anti-democratic tendencies.”
For further discussion we can recommend the two books, “Rechte Ökologie” by Oliver Geden (unfortunately only available second-hand) and “Globalisierung aus Sicht der extremen Rechten” by Anton Maegerle.
Refugee Policy in Germany: “First Trickery, Then Starvation”
For 11 days now, the Berlin Senate, with the help of a large police force, has been starving and thirsting refugee activists on the roof of a hostel for refugees in Gürtelstrasse. Doctors who warn of the serious consequences of dehydration and want to bring water are not allowed through. Press is not allowed to the protesters. The few people who show solidarity are harassed and their protest against the inhumane actions of politics and police is made impossible. Go here to the blog and Twitter for information including press reviews and ways to support.
Open letter “Decolonize orientation framework!” published
A joint working group of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany (KMK) published the Orientation Framework for Global Development Education in 2007. This has emerged in recent years as a frame of reference for (extra-) school activities of Global Learning and Education for Sustainable Development. In the last two years, the orientation framework has been revised and expanded by the working group, but without criticisms v.a. from postcolonial and migrant-diasporic perspectives, which have been repeatedly a.o. on joint panel participations, inquiries, publications on power- and racism-critical analyses to the current orientation framework were brought in. Now, since mid-July 2014, the revised version of the orientation framework has been available for public discussion on the Internet.