“We only take Ukrainians, we do not take the other rabble” – the intersectional construction of diversity. Belonging, inclusion and exclusion in educational institutions

The incorporation of intersectionality into the study of belonging and inclusion/exclusion mechanisms in educational institutions acknowledges the complexity of potentially discriminatory factors such as ethnic background, linguistic diversity, gender, class, and (dis)ability, and the overlaps and interaction between them when it comes to experiences of marginalisation and systemic inequalities. This paper presents the results of ethnographic research in a primary and secondary public school in Eastern Germany. Participant observation in school classes, ethnographic and narrative interviews with children, teachers, school social workers, headmasters, and school authority administrators were conducted during the school year 2022/23 and complemented by visual data. The data were subjected to analysis by means of a constant comparative method. The results reveal the intersectional construction of diversity, with racialisation, ethnic hierarchies, origin-based inclusion and exclusion, and intersectional othering processes based on latent mechanisms becoming evident.