chapter 2 - Stiftung "Erinnerung, Verantwortung und Zukunft"

Heiner Bielefeldt
An Ongoing Project
Discrimination is still a problem in contemporary Germany – a free and democratic society with a highly
developed legal system and a sophisticated human infrastructure. People from immigrant communities still
experience hurdles in the housing and labor market; even those with equivalent educational attainment have
greater difficulty obtaining an apprenticeship or trainee position compared to young people with more traditionally
“German-sounding” names. Even today, men and women do not receive equal pay for equal work; in
fact, the wage discrepancy is substantial and has remained largely unchanged over the past several decades,
despite numerous corrective policies and measures. Persons with disabilities who wish to marry and establish
families often confront a lack of understanding and many practical obstacles; this applies in particular
to people with developmental disabilities. Moreover, Germany lags far behind other European nations in the
integration of children with disabilities into regular schools. The educational system also relegates a disproportionate
number of children from immigrant backgrounds to schools for children with learning disabilities.
In turn, these children suffer serious and permanent disadvantages through their segregation from the mainstream
at such a young age. Despite some progress, lesbian women and gay men are still stigmatized. Muslims
and other religious minorities often face significant obstacles to participation in established state and
religious structures, such as religious instruction in schools. Furthermore, there has been little systematic
investigation of age discrimination in Germany, and the topic is still largely unknown to the general public.
Even less discussed is the complex issue of discrimination on the basis of genetic features, such the insurance
industry’s discrimination against persons with certain genetic predispositions for disease. This list of
unsolved questions and problems is by no means exhaustive.
For reasons of space, I cannot describe the many different legislative, administrative, social work, and educational
measures needed to enact effective anti-discrimination policies in detail here. Instead, I will close
by indicating an irresolvable tension that all anti-discrimination policies face: the challenge of paying equal
attention to all forms of discrimination, while paying special attention to each.
On the one hand, all forms of discrimination deserve equal attention. Any attempt to establish a hierarchy
of discrimination – for example, by arguing that racial discrimination is more serious than discrimination
against persons with disabilities (or the reverse) – would be contrary to the universalist principle of human
rights. 25 The term “horizontal approach” is now being used to describe the practice of combating all potential
reasons for discrimination under a single anti-discrimination provision. The horizontal approach makes it
possible to address in systematic fashion multiple forms of discrimination, such as the dual discrimination of
women with disabilities or the status of homosexuals from migrant communities.
On the other hand, we must also continue to pay special attention to the unique character of each form of discrimination.
For example, it would be a mistake to conclude that the horizontal approach precludes focused
measures like gender mainstreaming. In order to effectively combat discriminatory practices and structures,
we must thoroughly analyze the social conditions which gave rise to them. This analysis requires that we assess
and understand each specific form of discrimination. Only a systematic analysis of society allows us to
recognize the wide range of social effects due to gender, for example, or the many obstacles that still prevent
the full accommodation of persons with disabilities of mobility or vision. This specificity will allow us to devise
targeted and precise anti-discrimination polices. The horizontal approach therefore does not imply the
end of gender mainstreaming, disability mainstreaming, or other focused measures in favor of a kaleidoscopic
25 Of course, experiences of discrimination can vary greatly, from a verbal attack to structural discrimination on the housing or employment market to
violence and even genocide.
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Stiftung EVZ
HUMAN RIGHTS AND HISTORY: A CHALLENGE FOR EDUCATION