Context Matters: Experiencing Racist Violence and Responses in Eastern Germany

This talk is based on a work in progress about racist violence in contemporary eastern Germany. By analyzing case studies, I examine how survivors interpret and mediate racist attacks, and how they understand these incidents not as singular crimes, but as part of larger, structural problems that reveal the normality of racist violence. This violence has most often been triggered by a victim’s immigration status, by prevailing discourses of crime, especially through media outlets, and by statements from law enforcement and key members of civil society. All of these contribute to a climate of racial violence. The talk concludes with a brief discussion of how grassroots organizations and government agencies have responded to these issues.
Gesa Köbberling is a visiting scholar with the UC Center for New Racial Studies

hm 4/19/12