The project “Voices against racism and populism” is a franco-german blog with articles, podcasts and short films on the topics of racism and populism.
Racist attitudes and populist currents: The stirring up of hate, anger and prejudice against social groups and minorities is present in everyday life and in the digital world. Populist movements and their opinion leaders are on the rise. They accept, provoke and reinforce the division of society. Racist attitudes go hand in hand with this and often form the foundation of populist movements.
Since 2020, the cross-border blog project “Voices against racism and populism” has aimed to draw attention to the existing problems of racism and populism in our society. In the process, a multimedia platform has been created on which voices against racism and populism can be shared. These voices are those of students from the border triangle between Germany, France and Switzerland as well as from volunteers from the Franco-German Youth Office who are involved in the blog.
Besides teaching basic journalistic skills and raising awareness on the issues of populism and racism, the project also wants to enable participants to get to know another city, another country and other young people. In all editorial offices we speak and work in both languages, German and French.
The blog project in 2025
The blog project returns for its 2025 edition with a text editorial team and a video editorial team. The 20 students from Freiburg, Strasbourg, Offenburg, and Mulhouse were free to choose which team they wanted to work in. Before getting started, they took part in online seminars that introduced them to the topics of racism and populism.
With the start of the first in-person weekend in Freiburg at the beginning of November, participants began working enthusiastically on their articles or films under the guidance of one of the editorial leads. Their goal was to publish a journalistic article or film addressing topics such as racism and populism. At the same time, there was plenty of room for activities and intercultural exchange during the two weekends they spent together. One particular highlight was a workshop where participants learned how to bake a traditional Black Forest cake. By the time of the second weekend, Freiburg’s Christmas market had also opened, giving participants another opportunity to experience the city together.
A New Project Year Begins in 2024
For the fifth time, the project “Voices against racism and populism” kicked off in October 2024. And this time, quite a few things have changed!
The project is (almost) going back to its roots: instead of three editorial teams for podcasts, video, and text, this year there is just one text editorial team. Nevertheless, the project received plenty of applications. In the end, 12 participants from Freiburg, Strasbourg, and Karlsruhe joined the project, and for the first time since the project launched in 2020, two students from Basel are taking part as well. This means that the project is now firmly rooted in the German-French-Swiss tri-border region for the first time. We are delighted about that!
Some things, however, have remained unchanged: as in previous years, the participants began the project by taking part in an online seminar on racism and populism. This year’s seminar was once again led by Prof. Dr. Claude-Hélène Meyer, Professor of Industrial and Organisational Psychology at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa. Over the course of four sessions, participants received an academic introduction to the topic and had several opportunities to exchange ideas and discuss their perspectives in breakout rooms.
Following the online-based opening phase of the project, the second weekend of November finally brought the opportunity for all participants to meet in Freiburg and get to know one another in person. Project coordinator Andreas Vögele personally welcomed the participants at a reception in the Mensa Institutsviertel in Freiburg and introduced the organisational team of Studierendenwerk Freiburg (SWFR) as well as the editorial leads. After a shared dinner at the dining hall, Andreas Vögele guided the participants from Strasbourg, Karlsruhe, and Basel on a nighttime city tour of Freiburg.
The next morning, the in-person workshops got underway. The three editorial leads Maryline Boudot, Julika Kott and Louise Schöneshöfer introduced the participants to the fundamentals of journalism. Above all, the workshops aimed to raise participants’ awareness of non-discriminatory reporting. After the workshop, the participants took a walk to the Schlossberg together with the SWFR-team, and for dinner they enjoyed traditional Baden cuisine at a Freiburg restaurant.
On the second workshop day, the participants came together as a text editorial team to start working on their own articles. First, they were given a brief overview of different journalistic genres, including essays, interviews, and feature reports, using concrete examples. By the end of the day, each participant had found a topic that they would work on over the following weeks. Two weeks later, at the end of November, all participants returned to Freiburg for another in-person weekend. After sharing a meal at the dining hall, they had the opportunity to bake a local specialty together: the famous Black Forest cake. On Saturday and Sunday, they were able to put their journalistic skills into practice and continue working on their articles, supported by their editorial mentors.
Andreas Vögele remains the principal coordinator of the project. This year, the project is lead by Rahma Bouallegue, with active support from Étienne Bodet, Karolin Weichert and Noémie Huet. Once again, the project receives financial support from the Franco-German Youth Office (FGYO) and the Franco-German-Swiss Upper Rhine Conference (OKF), and we would like to take this opportunity to express our heartfelt thanks.
Looking Back on 2023
For the fourth time, the project “Voices against racism and populism” kicked off in 2023. A total of 17 participants from Freiburg, Strasbourg, and Karlsruhe took part. As in previous years, they began the project by attending four online seminars on the topics of racism and populism. New to the team this year were Mascha Liening and Maurice Soulié, who led these introductory seminars. They work as trainers at the Anti-Racism Information Centre (ARIC), an organization committed to promoting measures that combat racial discrimination and advance equal opportunities across various areas of society.
At the beginning of November, the time had finally come: all participants met in Freiburg and got to know one another. For those coming from Strasbourg and Karlsruhe, the weekend started with a short tour of the city. In the evening, everyone gathered at a local restaurant to try some traditional Baden cuisine. This year, the workshops and editorial teams were supported by a team of three journalists: Julika Kott, Louise Schöneshöfer, and Maryline Boudot. On the first day, they introduced the participants to the basics of journalism, with a particular focus on raising awareness of non-discriminatory reporting. The second day was dedicated to editorial work, as participants met with their respective teams to start developing their own projects. As in the previous year, Julika Kott once again leads the podcast editorial team. Maryline Boudot is heading the text editorial team on her own this year, while the video editorial team has a new lead in Louise Schöneshöfer. By the end of the first in-person weekend, every participant had found a topic they would be working on over the coming weeks.
Andreas Vögele remains the principal coordinator of the project. This year, he is actively supported by Étienne Bodet (franco-german volonteer). The project is als organised with the help of Karolin Weichert and Rahma Bouallegue from the SWFR. Once again, the project is financially supported by the Franco-German Youth Office (FGYO), for which we would like to express our sincere thanks.
The project is now going into the third round – The project in 2022
20 young people from Freiburg, Karlsruhe, Lörrach, Mulhouse and Strasbourg are taking part this year. Like last year, the project starts with an online basic seminar on racism and populism, led by Claude-Hélène Meyer from the University of Johannesburg. Special about this year is that the pandemic is not destroying our plans and we can all meet in Freiburg im Breisgau for the workshops. We’ll start int he beginning of November, when all staff and participants gather for a whole weekend in Freiburg. The students are introduced to the basics of journalism, learn how to conduct interviews, what different journalistic text forms there are and how to use racism- and populism-sensitive language in their contributions.
This year, Louise Schöneshöfer and Maryline Boudot will lead the text editing. Lisa Voelter will again head the short film editorial team, with Narges Shahid Kalhory new at her side this year. The podcast editorial team proved its worth last year and will be with us again in 2022, this time under the leadership of Julia Kott. The main person responsible for the project is still Andreas Vögele from Studierendenwerk Freiburg. Léa Rodriguez, this year’s volunteer from the Franco-German Youth Office (DFJW), is actively supporting him.
The second round – The project in 2021
In contrast to the first year, when everything could only take place online due to the pandemic, in 2021 we were very lucky to be able to meet together with all participants on the last weekend in October 2021 in Freiburg im Breisgau. Some of our participants came from Strasbourg, Karlsruhe, Lyon, Villingen-Schwenningen and Offenburg, but there were also some students from Freiburg. The text and film editors met for a second presence workshop in Freiburg on the first weekend in December. The podcast editors met a second time in Lyon. A basic online seminar on racism and populism led by Claude-Hélène Meyer from the University of Johannesburg accompanied the editorial work.
In 2021, the participants could participate in three different editorial teams: the text editorial team, the short film editorial team – and for the first time also ina podcast editorial team. The editorial team and the organisational team were also newly formed. This year, Andreas Vögele from the Studierendenwerk Freiburg is once again in charge and the main leader. This time, he was actively supported by Hugo Guenser, a volunteer from the German-French Youth Office.
All three editorial teams were professionally supervised and guided. The editors-in-chief of the text editorial team were Julika Kott and Undine Weimar-Dittmar. Margitta Freund and Lisa Voelter were the film editors and Maha Ganem led the podcast editorial team.
To the beginning – The project in 2020
The journalistic contributions, field reports and short films on the topic of racism and populism, that were recorded in 2020 and can still be found on this blog were produced jointly by German and French volunteers and students from the Upper Rhine region and Lyon. They were supported by the Jugendpresse Deutschland e.V. with the independent teaching editorial department Politikorange and the organisation from Freiburg Kommunikation und Medien e.V.. Impulses for discrimination-sensitive and racism-critical reporting came from the Neue Deutschen Medienmacher*innen e.V. (New German Media Makers). The question of an appropriate representation of the people who are legitimised to speak about racism has always accompanied the editorial work. Field reports from those affected were at the focus of the project in 2021 and can be found on our blog in the section Testimonials. Other journalistic contributions that deal with the topic of racism and populism can be found under the heading Articles by the editorial staff.