Understanding ethnic-racial identity in a context where "race" is taboo
- Ethnic-racial identity (ERI) is an important aspect of youth development and has been well-studied for the last several decades. One issue less discussed is how the construct of ERI translates across different countries and cultures. The purpose of our paper is to describe the sociohistorical context of Germany and implications for the study of ethnic-racial identity in Europe. We discuss the German adaption of the Identity Project, an 8-week school-based ethnic-racial identity exploration intervention developed in the United States. We use this as a concrete example of how we thought through the focal construct of ERI to figure out how and whether it is a salient social identity category for youth in Germany where, in response to the history of racially motivated genocide, discussions of "race" are taboo. Digging into the ways ERI may not be directly transferable to different contexts can help us understand its nature as a socially constructed identity with real-life implications. Our hope with this paper is to further discussion,Ethnic-racial identity (ERI) is an important aspect of youth development and has been well-studied for the last several decades. One issue less discussed is how the construct of ERI translates across different countries and cultures. The purpose of our paper is to describe the sociohistorical context of Germany and implications for the study of ethnic-racial identity in Europe. We discuss the German adaption of the Identity Project, an 8-week school-based ethnic-racial identity exploration intervention developed in the United States. We use this as a concrete example of how we thought through the focal construct of ERI to figure out how and whether it is a salient social identity category for youth in Germany where, in response to the history of racially motivated genocide, discussions of "race" are taboo. Digging into the ways ERI may not be directly transferable to different contexts can help us understand its nature as a socially constructed identity with real-life implications. Our hope with this paper is to further discussion, question our conceptualizations, and acknowledge how a detailed understanding of sociohistorical contexts is needed for the study of ERI.…
Author details: | Linda P. JuangORCiDGND, Ursula Elinor MoffittORCiDGND, Maja SchachnerORCiDGND, Sharleen Pevec-ZimmerORCiD |
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DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1080/15283488.2021.1932901 |
ISSN: | 1528-3488 |
ISSN: | 1532-706X |
Title of parent work (English): | Identity : an international journal of theory and research ; the journal of the Society for Research on Identity Formation |
Publisher: | Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group |
Place of publishing: | Philadelphia, PA |
Publication type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Date of first publication: | 2021/06/07 |
Publication year: | 2021 |
Release date: | 2024/04/09 |
Tag: | Ethnic-racial identity; Germany; intervention; race |
Volume: | 21 |
Issue: | 3 |
Number of pages: | 15 |
First page: | 185 |
Last Page: | 199 |
Organizational units: | Humanwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Strukturbereich Bildungswissenschaften / Department für Inklusionspädagogik |
DDC classification: | 1 Philosophie und Psychologie / 15 Psychologie / 150 Psychologie |
Peer review: | Referiert |
Publishing method: | Open Access / Hybrid Open-Access |
License (German): | CC-BY-NC-ND - Namensnennung, nicht kommerziell, keine Bearbeitungen 4.0 International |