Critical Race Theory and Antiracism : (Lost in Translation)

This response to Karim Fereidooni’s article “Critical race theory in political education” does not deal with either of that article’s two premises. Both the explicit thesis, that it is necessary to “tackle racism through education” (Fereidooni, 2022), and the implicit one, that the practice of political education requires a theoretical foundation, are hardly in need of defense. However, Fereidooni presents us with only two options regarding this choice of theory and decisively argues in favor of one. His arguments are based on outlines of these theories, namely critical race theory and antiracism, that seem to contradict their core principles as laid down in their foundational texts. This response does not interpret this observation as a mistake of one particular author but rather as a hint at a not only linguistic but also theoretical divide between the English and the German-speaking discourses in this field. Before briefly analyzing the theories in question and the arguments provided, it is appropriate to first examine current political and mass media discourses that have tended to drown out these academic and educational questions.