# Racial re-inscriptions? Examining the potentials and limitations of self-identification variables in German survey research

## TL;DR

This paper explores how self-identification in German surveys can both challenge and reinforce racial categories.

## Contribution

It highlights the risks and potentials of using self-identification variables in race-sensitive research in Germany.

## Key findings

- Self-identification may stabilize fluid racial identities into fixed categories.
- Quantitative methods in Germany raise ethical and epistemological questions.
- The paper calls for reflexive and context-sensitive research designs.

## Abstract

In recent years, quantitative methods have become a central tool in the fight against racism in Germany, offering empirical evidence to support anti-discrimination efforts. Among these methods, especially self-identification has gained prominence as a way to capture racialized experiences more accurately and to empower marginalized visibilities. By drawing on critical theories of racism, this paper argues that while self-identification may appear to challenge essentialist thinking, it can also risk re-inscribing race by stabilizing fluid identities into fixed categories. These risks are particularly salient in the German context, where official statistics have historically avoided racial categorization, and where recent shifts toward race-sensitive data collection raise new ethical and epistemological questions. By engaging with current methodological debates and highlighting both the contributions and limitations of quantitative approaches, this analysis calls for more reflexive, context-sensitive, and theoretically informed research designs.