Christian Berkel, Schauspieler
„Flüchtlinge sollten unseren Schutz finden – deshalb müssen wir rechten Parolen Einhalt gebieten. Die Amadeu Antonio Stiftung unterstützt wichtige Projekte für eine Willkommenskultur.“
Peter Maffay, Musiker
„Es herrscht noch immer zu viel Unkenntnis gegenüber anderen Kulturen, aus der Feindseligkeit entsteht. Wir müssen lernen, über diesen Tellerrand hinaus zu sehen und kapieren, dass wir voneinander abhängig sind."
Björn Harras, Schauspieler
„In den Medien hört man täglich, wie Menschen Opfer von Diskriminierung und Ausgrenzung werden. Weil Ermutigung und Aufklärung die besten Mittel gegen Intoleranz sind, unterstütze ich die Amadeu Antonio Stiftung.“
Cem Özdemir, Gründungskurator der Amadeu Antonio Stiftung
„Menschen, die gegen Rechts-extremismus, Rassismus und Antisemitismus angehen, stärken unsere demokratische Zivilgesell-schaft. Die Amadeu Antonio Stiftung unterstützt sie und leistet damit wertvolle Arbeit."
Ise Bosch, Dreilinden gGmbH
„Wir alle sind gegen rechte Gewalt - die Amadeu Antonio Stiftung fördert diejenigen, die etwas dagegen tun, an vielen Orten und mit langem Atem. Sie geht dabei keine vorschnellen Kompromisse ein.“
www.living-equality.org
Focus on Antiziganism, January 2008
This is the Amadeu Antonio Foundation’s electronic Newsletter for the program „Living Equality“.
1. Editorial: Fighting Bigotry
Dear Readers,
This newsletter is an odd issue. Actually, that’s not quite true: it is the first issue of a special series—a series in addition to our regular monthly newsletter. Here we want to report about a large project of the Amadeu Antonio Foundation in which partners and contents are connected in such a way that it requires a newsletter of its own. The project is called “Living Equality.” How come the title is in English, some of you might ask, and what does the title mean? Well, the project’s title is in English because funding is provided by the Ford Foundation and because “Living Equality” seemed to us the appropriate response to what Professor Heitmeyer calls “group-focused enmity” (in the original: Gruppenbezogene Menschenfeindlichkeit). This admittedly awkward expression refers to a widespread phenomenon: the fact that people hate others simply because those others belong to a particular group, a minority. This phenomenon can be broken down into singular manifestations: racism, Antiziganism, Antisemitism, homophobia, xenophobia, sexism, and hostility towards the socially disadvantaged. Most often these aspects are studied in isolation.
BIASED ATTITUDES
"I find it repellent when two gay men kiss each other on the street.” Why does this statement find approval among 80% of those interviewed who are male and of Turkish origin, but only among 10% of those interviewed who are female and of German origin? Why do 61% of Germans believe that “there are too many foreigners in Germany”? Finding an answer to these questions is the aim of the research project on “Group-focused Enmity” of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence in Bielefeld. Under the direction of sociologist Wilhelm Heitmeyer, citizens have been polled since 2002 about their attitudes to socially disadvantaged groups. The long-term study focuses on how widespread bias and hostility against minorities is and on what the causes of such bias are. The results of this study form the basis for the project of the Amadeu Antonio Foundation. The project tries out and implements different practical approaches against bias and discrimination.
HOW DO YOU RECOGNIZE BIGOTRY?
The following characteristics belong to “group-focused enmity:” the hostility is directed against one or several groups, not necessarily against individuals: “I fully support my friend Ali, but Turks in general, well…” A prejudice appears seldom in isolation: those who agree with Antisemitic statements are highly likely to harbor prejudice against other groups. The link among the different kinds of bias is the notion that some people are worth more, some less than others. Disparagement and prejudice form a vicious circle. Prejudice is often the basis for disparagement: “in general, women are emotionally less in control than men and therefore are less suitable for leadership roles. ”At the same time, a supposed inferiority is used to justify prejudice: “Because of their brain structure, women’s mathematical and commercial capabilities are inferior to those of men. Women therefore try to usurp better positions through quota systems and affirmative action. ”Bigotry as understood in terms of “group-focused enmity” includes the disparagement of the socially disadvantaged---such as the homeless, the unemployed, and people with disabilities---, Antisemitism, xenophobia, homophobia, Islamophobia, racism and sexism.
WHAT IS ANTIZIGANISM?
In German, Sinti and Roma are derogatorily referred to as Zigeuner (gypsies). Zigeuner is a problematic term because it evokes the notion of Zieh-Gauner or “itinerant crook.” And this notion is at the core of Antizisganism: mainstream society perceives the Sinti and Roma as “foreign” and “strange” in terms of not being sedentary and thus not trustworthy either. Xenophobia, the fear and hatred of strangers and foreigners is one aspect of “group-focused enmity” and in this case the category under which Antiziganism may be subsumed. It is a type of bias, however, that has not been considered on its own in the long-term study on “Group-focused Enmity.” There are certainly several parallels to Antisemitism---such as the accusation against both Sinti and Roma and Jews that they are “rootless” peoples---but since Antiziganism is a centuries-old phenomenon of its own, it is the focus of this issue.
“MOMENTS OF REFLECTION“
Prejudices, hatred and hostility against the Roma and Sinti are very old and deeply rooted in the culture of mainstream society. These notions are transported for example in “pictures of Gypsies,” whether with positive or negative connotation. In the cybernetic age we could talk of “attachments,” that is, of messages that are appended to the minority—and that to such an extent that the whole group is identified with the message. To “frame someone” is an expression that is used to talk about showing something or someone in a particular manner, usually negatively. Whatever is attributed to the Roma and Sinti is something that originally does not have anything to do with the Roma and Sinti, but as a consequence of the “framing” comes to adhere to them like a tag or an indelible stigma. The causes and the motives for such framing or stigmatization have to do with those who discriminate and stigmatize, not with those who are stigmatized. In an interview with mut-gegen-rechte-gewalt.de, Egon Schweiger from the Regional Association of German Sinti and Roma in Baden-Württemberg provides background information about his work in the context of the Network for “Living Equality.” He calls for "moments of reflection“ in the fight against prejudice.
You may find the complete interview under:
http://www.mut-gegen-rechte-gewalt.de/debatte/interviews/antiziganismus/
GERMAN CONDITIONS Volume 6
On December 17th Surkamp Verlag published the sixth volume in the series Deutsche Zustände (“German Conditions”). The series explores different aspects of “group-focused enmity”. The new volume concentrates on the discrimination of the socially disadvantaged such as the long-term unemployed. It discusses as well the social and political factors that play a role in the creation of inequality and bigotry. This volume focuses in particular on the ways in which utilitarian thinking comes to pervade thinking about society, to the extent that some members of society are labelled economically “useless” and thus worthless. The empirical analyses are complemented in the volume by case stories and reports that identify strategies for facilitating equality. There is also a photo essay about “Visible Inequality.”
WWW.LIVING-EQUALITY.ORG
The Network for "Living Equality“ now has its own website: www.living-equality.org. On the site, the Amadeu Antonio Foundation presents each project, its particular methodology, and the results of their work. The main projects as well as important results will be presented in this occasional series. The next issue will focus on the question: what can be done at the communal level to strengthen an orientation towards equality.
Copyright (c) 2007
Date of publication: 21. December 2007
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This edition: Timo Reinfrank with Anetta Kahane, Berit Lusebrink, Torben Richter, Rufus V. Sona, Jan Schwab, Christoph Zarft
Translation: Andrés Nader
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