Against Interlocking Forms of Discrimination and Exclusion (in Higher Education)

International Workshop University of Koblenz, January 22-23, 2026

Convenor: Ina Kerner // Administrative Support: Nele Weiher, Mara Bierbrauer
Politics Unit, Department of Cultural Studies, University of Koblenz

Contemporary societies are far from being devoid of structural inequalities. Such inequalities also shape institutions. Universities and other institutions of higher education are among these. The effect are different forms of discrimination and exclusion, which often inlock, like in the case of gender-based discrimination and institutional racism that black feminism has pointed to. Individuals, political action groups, social movements and in some cases also parties problematize such effects of (interlocking) discrimination and exclusion – their efforts have led, among other things, to institutional mechanisms that aim to work against these effects, at best to prevent them from occurring altogether.

It is far from clear, however, what the best of such mechanisms look like, and which kinds of strategies seem both suitable and feasible. This uncertainty has led to the production of a wide variety of approaches, practical experiments, instruments, studies, reflection, theoretical consideration and debate. Topics and open questions regarding the latter include the best way to deal with the fact that forms of discrimination and exclusion (in higher education) often appear in interconnected forms; if and how, for instance, notions of intersectionality prove useful here; how to work on gender based discrimination without reproducing binary gender norms; the role of legal measures in combatting discriminatory forms of violence; pros and cons of adopting rhetorics and action of resistance within institutional policy fields; complications stemming from the internalization of hierarchizing norms that may work to the disadvantage of those who are being discriminated or excluded and contribute to reproducing inequality; questions of class that are often missing from institutional anti-discrimination agendas; and finally the impact that neoliberal restructuring and current modes of democratic crisis may have for the entire field.

The workshop unites an international group of scholars and practitioners who are thinking about suitable ways to assess, and even more so to challenge and to undo interlocking forms of discrimination and exclusion. The workshop is both interdisciplinary and trans-contextual. It brings together scholars and practitioners with backgrounds in education, gender studies, legal studies, political science, and sociology, whose work is informed by or focused on constellations of interlocking forms of discrimination and exclusion (in higher education) in Brazil, Canada, Germany, and the Netherlands.

Registration: Please send an email to polwiss-fb2 uni-koblenz de before January 19, 2026, stating your name and affiliation.