Do you want to take a closer look at the forms and causes of prejudice and discrimination? In the following section you will find links to specialist articles from the legal and social sciences that will provide you with background information and prepare you for debates and solution strategies in your own environment.
Legal perspective
The General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) has been in force in Germany since 2006. It prohibits discrimination at the workplace and in public spaces.
The Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency provides a comprehensive AGG guide on its website. It has also published a series of handouts on the AGG specifically for companies which take legal and social science perspectives into account and provide concrete tips on how to create a discrimination-free working environment.
The Dossier "Alles schon fair? Mit Recht zu einem inklusiven Arbeitsmarkt!" [Everything fair and above board? With right on your side to an inclusive labour market!] of the IQ Fachstelle Interkulturelle Kompetenzentwicklung und Antidiskriminierung [IQ Competence Center for Intercultural Competence Development and Anti-Discrimination] takes stock ten years after the AGG came into force. In the dossier, experts from the worlds of academia, public administration, employers' associations and counselling centres have their say.
Social science perspective
Every four years, the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency presents a report on discrimination in Germany to the German Bundestag. This is what the AGG requires in Section 27 (4). The most recent survey "Discrimination in Germany" was published in 2017.
In 2018, the Expert Council of German Foundations on Integration and Migration (SVR) published the policy brief "Where do you originally come from?' Experiences of Discrimination and Phenotypical Difference in Germany". It examines immigrants' subjective perceptions of disadvantage and analyses forms and fields of discrimination. The study is based on data from the SVR Integration Barometer 2016 and found, among other things, that people whose appearance indicates an immigrant history feel discriminated against far more often than immigrants who do not differ in appearance from the majority population.
The Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung (WZB) [WZB Berlin Social Science Centre] has published a study that looks at the causes of discrimination in personnel recruitment. The study "Ethnic hierarchies in applicant selection: A field experiment on the causes of labour market discrimination" was published in 2018. A summary of the resultsis provided by the online magazine “MiGAZIN – Migration in Germany”.
The 2014 study "Discrimination in the training market" by the Expert Council of German Foundations for Integration and Migration sheds light on the extent and causes of discrimination, especially against young people with a migrant background who are looking for a training place. With concrete recommendations for action for companies, schools, civil society and politics, it provides important insights to promote equal opportunities on the training market.
The 2019 study "Discrimination risks in the public employment service", commissioned by the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency, deals with mechanisms and problems in the implementation of discrimination protection in employment agencies and job centres. It provides concrete recommendations for action to politicians, the Federal Employment Agency and the job centres.
The 2018 study "Muslim Women and Men in Rural Areas in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia – How can the municipal administration master new tasks well?"of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and the Robert Bosch Foundation explores how the integration of Muslims in municipalities can succeed. Chapter 3.4 presents examples of good practice from eastern German cities and municipalities (including the Burgenlandkreis district and Stendal) in dealing with hostility towards Muslims. .