Discrimination in the past and present - an international youth work topic
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Dear readers,
Welcome to the first edition of the LfH-Magazine in the new year. We’re focusing on "discrimination in the past and the present" in international project work. This is a double issue published in German and in English.
The occasion is the EUROPEANS FOR PEACE program of the German Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility and Future (EVZ), which is about to present its awards to outstanding projects under the rubric of "Discrimination: Watch out! Projects on exclusion, then – and now."
We are grateful to the authors who contributed essays to this issue:
First, Judith Blum and Corinna Jentzsch, directors of the funding program, introduce the subject.
Prof. Dr. Michael Sauer clarifies the area of the project work and the related tasks and opportunities.
Anne Sophie Winkelmann introduces diversity-aware educational work.
Prof. Dr. Monique Eckmann opens a discussion on various pedagogical strategies to combat anti-Semitism.
A backlash of burdensome memories can be the social marginalization of others; Prof. Dr. Björn Krondorfer introduces two important components in international exchange work that can help educators deal with the dynamics of discrimination.
In their practical contribution, Steffen Jost and Nina Rabuza reflect on what it means to work with "marginalized" groups during international youth encounters at memorial sites related to Nazi crimes against humanity.
The notion of schools as places for activism is introduced by Eberhard Seidel, using the example of the "School without Racism – School with Courage" network.
Heike Fahrun considers the efficacy of urban quests in helping participants become aware of diversity through concrete spatial experiences.
Reports on various exemplary and exciting projects show what it means to address the topic of "discrimination" and to adopt an anti-discriminatory approach:
Gisela Paterkiewicz describes an emotionally affecting inclusion project that handled the topics of "euthanasia and forced sterilization in the Third Reich" and "human dignity in the post-war period, and in care centers."
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, religious identity is one of the most important issues, linked as it is to political power and personal career paths. Johannes Smettan provides methodologically reflective insights into an exciting project that grapples with self-determination in a marginalizing society.
Three additional projects that provide important insights into successful implementation of international youth encounters using concrete examples will receive prizes from the Foundation EVZ in the spring of 2015:
Ragna Vogel and Anne-Kathrin Topp share their experience of producing a TV program on discrimination, working with deaf and hearing youths from Germany and Russia.
Katrin Schnieders reports on a trans-boundary dance, theater and video project with young Roma and their friends.
Dr. Jens Aspelmeier sheds light on pedagogical methods used and challenges faced in guiding a German-Israeli school project on overcoming societally accepted discrimination through dance and other means.
Friends must sometimes express inconvenient truths and live with criticism: Participants in a German-Israeli youth exchange came to this insight, says Karina Lajchter.
The LfH editors tapped several important sources – surveys on discrimination against minorities in Europe, websites, teaching materials, pedagogical methods and specialist literature in English – that we would like to introduce to you for your work with international groups.
Among them is the well-known manual, "Compass," which features practical tips on human rights education and is to be published in a new edition in 2015; Else Engel and Lea Fenner reviewed it for us.
We are grateful to Toby Axelrod, Leslie Kuo, Sandra Lustig, and Felix Prahl who translated the edition into English.
This edition of our magazine was financed by the Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility and Future.
We wish you an interesting and rewarding reading experience, as you peruse this special edition.
Nadja Grintzewitsch and Constanze Jaiser
and the editorial staff of LfH
You can download the magazine with the link above.
