Managing the Stigma: Islamophobia in German Schools

Abstract:

As Islamophobia is on the rise in German society it also reaches into public institutions like schools. Not only students are influenced by the bad image of Islam being reflected by many media reports and public debates, teaching staff are also not immune to the effect of hostile attitudes towards Islam and Muslims.

However, the stigmatisation of certain groups is especially problematic, given the hierarchical relationship between teachers and students. The following article presents some of the findings of an ongoing research project about the reactions of Muslim students to Islamophobia in German schools. It looks at Muslim religiosity as a kind of stigma in German society and evaluates the possible ways in which students who belong to the stigmatised group can react to and manage to cope with these attitudes. It also discusses the possible empowering role that religion can play for some of the students.