TiG 04 / “Quotendebatte” / Skadi Loist
Channel: This is Germany
Date: 29/03/2021

TiG-04 / "Quotendebatte"
Language: English
Date: 18.03.2021

TiGGER:
Skadi Loist 
Professor of Media Studies / Production Cultures:
Filmuniversität Babelsberg Konrad Wolf, Potsdam
Vintage: 1978


TRIGGER:
Try mentioning the word ‘quota’ in the German context, and you’re likely to be witness to a particular kind of magic: A ‘quota’ is typically assumed to be synonymous with the complete annulment of education, capacity, skills, experience, seniority, and/or any other required qualification for a job, a position or a function. Accordingly, the German term ‘Quotenfrau’ is thought to be an insult, one implying an utter lack of skill and/or competence, the common assumption being that the person in question must have been awarded the job on the basis of (in the case of this example) her sex/gender, and on that basis alone.
 
Following the ongoing debate around quotas (‘Quotendebatte’) in the German context, you might easily imagine that the application of any kind of affirmative action is tantamount to an outright disregard for ‘professional standards,’ amounting to the complete betrayal of the very foundations of modern society – Meritocracy! Quality! When and if those quotas finally come, it would seem, they will surely signal the collapse (yet again) of The Abendland!

Kneejerk alarmism of this flavour conveniently overlooks the murky dynamics of modern society: How can it be the case, in 2021, that professional elites remain very much made up of white, heterosexual, academic, cis men? How well (it is necessary to ask), have systems based on so-called ‘meritocracy’ thus far worked out for women, people of colour, Jews, Sinti/Roma communities, queer and trans folks, people with disabilities, and other groups who have historically been explicitly excluded from higher education, visibility and recognition, professional advancement, prestigious jobs, networks of authority and basic human rights? How then, might it be possible to make up for centuries over which so many have been actively denied access to power, resources, titles, agency—but also for the massive impact of such exclusions on society long after they have been officially and formally abolished? To what extent do norms and ideals governing ‘professionalism’ remain impregnated with stereotypes pertaining to gender, sexuality, class, ‘ethnicity,’ etc.? And given the unbearably slow pace of change when it comes to creating a more equitable and diverse public sphere, why not give quotas a fair chance?  

That said, quotas admittedly come with some built-in problems… even for those most in favour of applying them. Isn’t there the risk that quotas could reinforce essentialist notions that come with social categories such as gender, ethnicity, sexuality, etc.? Can a single-issue quota—for example, one designed to uplift ‘women’ or ‘migrants’ or those facing class disadvantage—really be effective in tackling complex and multi-dimensional (aka intersectional) mechanisms of discrimination? And how might it be possible to design quotas so as to avoid playing different communities that have faced historical disadvantage, against each other, thus enflaming what some have referred to as ‘competitive victimhood’?

TiG-04 is co-hosted by Paula Villa Braslavsky (Sociologist & Gender Studies Scholar, LMU München) and Candice Breitz. 

BREAKDOWN:
Total Contributors Invited: 346
Davon Kartoffeln/Weiß: 203

BEHIND THE SCENES:
Episode Concept: Candice Breitz + Paula Villa Braslavsky
Above Text: Paula Villa Braslavsky
Design + Sound: Alex Fahl
Production: Alex Fahl