Not everyone is familiar with the term "classism". Many people hear "classicism" and think of an art-historical epoch or a particular architectural style. But classism refers to something else: it is about systematic discrimination based on social background or current socio-economic position in society.
Social inequality is a democratic problem
Although the gap between rich and poor in Germany continues to widen and the Council of Europe has just criticised Germany, as an extremely rich country, for doing far too little to combat growing inequality, nothing has been done in this area for decades. People have become accustomed to social inequalities and other problems seem more important.
However, addressing the problems of poverty, precarity and classist disadvantage is not only our moral duty, but also our democratic duty. In view of the acute crisis of democracy, the problem urgently needs more attention, because social inequality has enormous consequences for trust in democracy, participatory justice, social cohesion and system stability.
Socially marginalised citizens affected by poverty have a particularly low level of trust in state institutions and they participate significantly less in politics. Growing social inequality is linked to the success of right-wing parties across Europe, even if it is not the socially marginalised who help far-right parties to achieve their enormous electoral success. But declining social security leads to insecurity, fear of social decline and anger, it jeopardises social cohesion and encourages radicalisation right into the middle of society. It would also be possible to create a counterweight to the vote gains of the extreme right by countering the electoral apathy of socially disadvantaged people with convincing political offers.
Classism - a fresh look at an old problem
A new perspective on the problem is currently developing around the concept of classism, which may harbour opportunities. Similar to the more well-known forms of discrimination such as sexism and racism, but also lesser-known forms such as unequal treatment on the basis of disability(ableism) orage (ageism), the lens of classism enables a different view of the old problem of social inequality.
The concept of classism focuses more directly on the negative consequences of poverty than the neutral concept of social inequality. It allows us to focus both on personal involvement and individual behaviour as well as on structural-political causes and measures. Through the analogy with other forms of discrimination, it is immediately obvious that this is an unjust, undeserved disadvantage. And it picks up those who are fighting against discrimination and in favour of diversity, but who have not yet become so aware of the disadvantage due to their class position. In contrast to the established and somewhat dusty concepts of social inequality or social justice, classism as a new concept arouses curiosity. It can inject new vigour into the debate on inequality.
Classism or class struggle? There is a dispute about the concept of classism
The debate has potential - also because classism is a controversial concept. Critics criticise the fact that, unlike other discriminatory characteristics, social position is not an unchangeable characteristic of a person and that different logics therefore apply. This may be true, but working out such differences can be enlightening on the one hand. On the other hand, there are also many similarities that can make it clear that this is also about the systematic and completely undeserved discrimination of certain groups. And finally, the social situation does not only depend on access to economic forms of capital - which can certainly be changed - and dimensions of discrimination such as age and appearance are by no means completely fixed.
Some people are also asking why the term "class" is being used again, what reference there is to Marxism and whether classes even exist in Germany. In sociology, however, class is a very common term in social structure analysis, which is used to differentiate between types of employment with different levels of qualification and income and different labour logics. The classism debate also follows on from the "classism" debate in the Anglophone context, where "class" is less reminiscent of Marx and more akin to "social situation" in German.
Another concern is that the focus on classism displaces the need for "class struggle". Indeed, it is important not to lose sight of the root of the problem, which is increasing socio-economic injustice. There is no need to put different perspectives on a problem in competition with each other. Rather, it is important to link the classism perspective with poverty, urban development or education research.
And what now?
In recent years, many reports by those affected have been published in Germany under the heading of classism. For example, the anthology "Class and Struggle", recently published by the Federal Agency for Civic Education, brings together very different perspectives and text forms. Such insights into individual experiences make the problems associated with poverty and precarity tangible in a special way, without having to exclude structural-political issues. They can awaken empathy for the experiences of exclusion of the socio-economically disadvantaged. This is urgently needed in the face of such an entrenched problem, the extent and causes of which are largely known, without anything changing. Important questions that we need to ask ourselves include What political countermeasures are both effective and capable of gaining agreement across camp boundaries? How can we mobilise better against social injustice?
We can use the attention gained through the classism debate to change the social imbalance in Germany and strengthen democracy.
