While immigration is diversifying populations worldwide, approaches to race and racism differ greatly: Europe, and Germany specifically, have long avoided these conversations, claiming to have transcended race after World War II (Roig, 2017) However, Germany’s increasing racialethnic diversity is challenging this silence, sparking both social justice movements and a rise in right-wing counter-movements. This dissertation explores the complexities of researching raceethnicity within the “race-mute” European context, focusing on how white German parents navigate racial-ethnic socialization (RES) within this macro-context. It employs a qualitative research approach grounded in a social constructionist perspective.

In the introductory chapter, I discuss the central concepts of race and whiteness and delineate the broader racial landscape of Europe and Germany. Following this, I review the existing research on RES, exploring related concepts and theories. Finally, I situate RES within the broader societal context by taking a m(ai)cro perspective (Rogers, Niwa, et al., 2021). The subsequent Chapter presents the three articles, exploring the complexities of RES within the “race-mute” context of Germany. The first article delves into the theoretical and methodological challenges inherent in researching race-ethnicity in a European context where these concepts are silenced. The subsequent articles build upon this foundation by presenting two empirical studies. These studies examine white German parents’ approaches to RES, conducted in two distinct in two distinct contexts: a predominantly white Eastern city and a superdiverse Western city.

The general discussion synthesizes the dissertation’s findings, outlines the central domains of white German parents’ RES and analyzes how these domains are shaped by both macro-level ideologies and the proximal context. This chapter further explores the strengths and limitations of this work, reflects on the research process, and concludes by outlining methodological and practical implications for future research and intervention efforts.

This dissertation provides insights for researchers, educators, and policymakers seeking to understand and dismantle whiteness and systemic racism in contemporary Germany and similar “race-mute” contexts.