Homogenizing and racializing classifications are a crucial part of discourses which position pupils of colour as minorities (Chadderton 2012). Those discourses also become relevant for European education systems (Hormel/Scherr 2013), especially as practices of racialization and Othering take place in schools (Kemp-Graham 2018; Kleiner/Rose 2014). Research on institutional racism contributes to the fact that pupils of colour are systematically disadvantaged and that racist knowledge ultimately becomes entrenched (Gillborn 1990, Taylor et al. 2016). This does not only reinforce social inequality; it also has a significant impact on the identities of minoritized subjects (Huxel 2014; Scharathow 2014). The possibilities for them to defend themselves against these discursive positionings are limited, since the articulation of experiences of racism is often met with resistance. Practices of silencing establish limits of what can be said and are closely connected to the fear of sanctions and educational exclusion. As a result, vulnerable minorities and their stories are rendered invisible in the public discourse. However, there are also indications of a shift in discursive boundaries: Observing recent worldwide debates (e.g. on police brutality and racism), where social inequality and exclusion are being discussed, the internet is increasingly developing into a space in which experiences of racism are articulated in public. Anti-racist and feminist movements such as Black Lives Matter and metoo (Twitter: #Blacklivesmatter; #metoo) therefore have a potential for resistance again racist discrimination - also in schools. Insofar, social media might enable sayabilities that are limited in the everyday life in educational organizations (Nakagawa/Arzubiaga 2014). At the same time, social media is also permeated with racism itself (Senft/Noble 2013). This is observable for example in increasing discussions on hate speech (Butler 2013).

The paper focuses on the potential as well as on limits of such written articulations on social media in terms of resistance against racism in educational organizations. It also brings into account how transnational networks emerge from social media and how they enable individuals and minoritized groups to reject racialized subject positions. At the same time, it is possible to examine how discursive boundaries shift and how narrative identities are constituted in articulations of resistance, but also how and whether social media contribute to the solidification of racist hierarchies. The analysis focuses on posts and related comments on social media (Twitter, Instagram, etc.) as well as on blogs in which experiences of racism in schools are the main subject. (The data is conducted as part of an ongoing research project.) By analyzing this debate, we ask how experiences of racism are articulated, how they encounter approval or rejection and how subject positions and collective identities (Yuval-Davis 2010) are constructed in such discourses. Finally, we reflect on implications for the field of education regarding perspectives on how schools can support their pupils raising their voices.   

In theoretical terms, the contribution follows a post-structuralist understanding of a decentered subject (Hall 1996, 2017), which is positioned and produced through discursive practices. Identity is understood as „the process of identification of taking up positions of identity“ (Hall 2017, p. 127); based on this, it is possible to understand identities not as individual realities, but rather in the light of collective knowledge (Yuval-Davis 2010). From an intersectional perspective (Anthias/Yuval-Davis 2005), we focus on the interrelationship of race and other social divisions.

In our analysis, we follow the interpretative paradigm of qualitative social research (Rosenthal 2018) and discourse theory (Foucault 1981). In this understanding of discourse, we consider blogs and posts as discursive practices and hence as “[…] modes of action in which the sayable and the visible is formed and in which the meanings and objects of knowledge are constituted as well as the subject positions of the discursive agents” (Wrana 2012, p. 196 [translated from German]). Following this theoretical perspective, the analysis of blogs and post shows which voices are silenced, who can make oneself heard and which subject positions are offered. The method of positioning analysis (Davies/Harré 1990) opens up the possibility to examine the positioning of subjects in discursive practices. Looking at these practices which produce and constitute subject positions, the analyzed blogs and posts do therefore not only represent individual experiences of racism that are part of narrative identities (Yuval-Davis 2010). They also give an insight view into whether and how collective identities emerge through sharing experiences via social media. The analysis therefore provides access to self-told stories of vulnerable and minoritized subjects, their potential for identifying with these stories and their meaning for the collective knowledge of minorities. By analyzing the reacting posts to the articulated experiences, we also focus on potential racist implications.

Educational research demonstrates that schools in Europe contribute to the reinforcement of racism and social inequality (e.g. in Fereidooni/El 2017). At the same time, research is rudimentary when it comes to the question of how resistance emerges that is not situated in schools. With our contribution, we focus on such practices of resistance by analyzing the (written) stories of minoritized subjects. Our analyses of blogs, posts, and comments provide a contribution to a better understanding of discrimination and its interrelation with discursive subject production. The contribution explicitly refers to self-positionings of minoritized voices and aims to make them more visible (Solórzano/Yosso 2002). The analysis therefore shows how racism is at work and which possibilities and limits subjects encounter in ,writing resistance’. The paper also points out which possibilities (for resistance) are apparently not available in educational settings. So, it is argued how both educational research and schools can take more account of ,written resistance’ in social media when developing anti-racist strategies.

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