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Germany: Confronting the colonial roots of racism

Sharma, Gouri
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2017/07/germany-confronting-colonial-roots-racism-170717111448009.html

Publisher:  Aljazeera
Date Written:  17/08/2017
Year Published:  2017  
Resource Type:  Article

The Nazis didn't fall out of the sky, there is a deeper racist, xenophobic mindset in German history.

Abstract: 
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Excerpt:

Little is known in mainstream German society about figures such as Carl Peters, or the nation's role as a coloniser between the 1880s and the early 20th century. Sociologist Serpil Polat says the topic has remained on the margins of analysis.

"Colonisation has not been the focus of the nation's narrative," Polat, who works at a migration academy linked to Berlin's Jewish Museum, explains. "On the one side, there is a lack of knowledge and if it is talked about, we have a sense of nostalgia mixed with the thinking that what Germany did wasn't as bad as other European colonisers. So a critical approach hasn't really happened so far."

However, recent developments in mainstream and civil society suggest that Germany's understanding of its colonial history may be evolving.

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