(Un)suitable Difference: Ethnic and Racializing Differentiations in Recruitment Practices of Local Administrations in Berlin

Abstract

Abstract This article investigates the role of ethnic and racializing differentiations in recruitment practices of public administrations in a context of demands to employ more staff of immigrant origin. Drawing on a qualitative study of local administrations in Berlin, I show how figures of “(un)suitable candidates” are constructed, in which ethnic/racializing differentiations intersect with gendered and spatial differentiations. This serves both to justify low recruitment numbers and established routines and to showcase openness to diversity.