‘Tell it like it is’? Mobilising race in German drug information between common-sense and social taboo

The collection and analysis of data on race have faced scepticism in European contexts, yet race-based classifications remain prevalent in life science research. In this article, I examine the translations of race from English to German within pharmaceutical regulatory documents and public drug information, crucial sites for the racialisation of clinical practice and drug consumption. I show that while race is predominantly translated as ‘ethnicity’, ‘skin colour’ (Hautfarbe) is also commonly employed. This trend underscores how regulators and scientists rely on colloquial or common-sense ideas to depict differences in drug response in the absence of standardised bureaucratic protocols or scientific consensus. Such practices not only perpetuate a phenotypical and often dichotomous conception of race but also illustrate, I argue, that the stigma surrounding discussions of race in Germany is deeply intertwined with the historical aftermath of the Holocaust, with lesser emphasis placed on histories of enslavement and colonisation and the ensuing forms of racialisation.