ABSTRACT
The concept of structural racism has become increasingly central to the political and ideological conflicts of our time. To many it appears as vague, unscientific, ideological. In this article, I first turn to a recent episode from the German history of racist violence to show how “structural racism” is mobilized in antiracist struggles to counter individualizing and depoliticizing mainstream framings. I then reconstruct the epistemic obstacles to talking about structural racism in Germany, including in critical theory in the Frankfurt School tradition. Subsequently, I sketch an understanding of structural racism that is informed by earlier work in that same tradition as well as contemporary social philosophy. I end by discussing how structural racism continues to structure interactions, practices, institutions, meanings and discourses in the current constellation.
