Intersectional Black European Studies

Technische Universität Berlin x Regional Centre for Education, Integration and Democracy Berlin x Yale University

Intersectional Black European Studies

Technische Universität Berlin x Regional Centre for Education, Integration and Democracy Berlin x Yale University

About

The Intersectional Black European Studies project (InBEST) is funded by the Senate of Berlin, Germany, and implemented by the Center for Interdisciplinary Gender Studies at the TU Berlin, the RAA Berlin (Center for Educational Justice) and Yale’s Center for Race, Indigeneity and Transnational Migration. The key goals of InBEST are the institutionalization of Intersectional Black Studies at the TU Berlin, the documentation and reduction of structural racism faced by Black students in Germany, and the creation of a digital archive of Black Europe that will both facilitate the digitalization of physical documents and allow for a mapping of sites of knowledge production and archiving across Europe.

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The majority of projects funded through this initiative were developed by the Black queer-feminist NGO ADEFRA and the RAA Berlin, an NGO focused on educational justice (both ADEFRA and RAA have been active for more than 30 years). The two organizations, in cooperation with the Center for Intersectional Gender Studies at Berlin’s Technical University (TU Berlin) and Fatima El-Tayeb, Yale University, have formed the Intersectional Black European Studies (InBEST) working group, which in 2022 received a multi-year grant focused on implementing Intersectional Black Studies in Germany.

The primary goal of the project is to introduce intersectional Black Studies into German curricula (initially focused on secondary education). Black Studies, and Ethnic Studies more broadly, are still completely absent from continental European school and university curricula. This omission is largely due to the persistent perception of Europe as “colorblind,” i.e., free of racism, which goes along with the categorization of racialized populations as migrants (of the nth generation), without roots or history on the continent, rather than as Europeans (of color). Accordingly, their histories, social conditions, and cultural productions are largely addressed by Migration Studies and excluded from other academic disciplines. While important work is done by migration studies scholars, this miscategorization entrenches the narrative of Europe as a naturally “white” continent to which the issue of race has only recently been introduced by non-white migrants.

Despite a series of studies showing persistent continent-wide (anti-Black) racism and a beginning public reckoning with the colonial legacy, there still is no systematic interrogation of the historical and current impact of racial thinking on European identities or of the century-long presence of racialized Europeans. Meanwhile, a fast-growing population of color and the recent rise in extreme right and white supremacist movements and parties make this interrogation even more urgent. For this to happen, however, structural support and institutional anchoring are indispensable - as is the inclusion of the expertise of racialized communities (who are severely underrepresented in institutions of power, including universities). The Black European Studies Project (BEST), initiated by Peggy Piesche, Sara Lennox, and Fatima El-Tayeb in 2003 and funded by the Volkswagen Foundation from 2004-2007 was a first attempt at bundling existing scholarship, connecting Europe-based scholars of the African diaspora, and laying the foundation for this overdue institutional engagement.

InBEST is firmly grounded in this tradition, it builds on decades-long activism and research from within the Black community, and can draw on a broad interdisciplinary and transnational network. With the support of the Berlin senate and the TU Berlin, the first goal is the creation of a Black Studies module and a tenured position in Black Studies at the TU Berlin, with similar programs at other institutions to follow. The scope of the project is international and multidisciplinary. Germany is Europe’s most populous nation and plays a key role within the European Union, whose shared policies include the sector of education (see e.g. the Erasmus program, which in the 2021-2027 period focuses on social inclusion). Thus, the implementation of intersectional Black Studies at German universities would likely have a continent-wide impact and lead to similar initiatives in other European nations.

Intersectional Black European Studies

Intersectional Black European Studies

About

Project Background

Our Partners

Intersectional Black European Studies

Intersectional Black European Studies

About

Project Background

Our Partners

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