An alternative world: a perspective from the North on racism and migration

Abstract

With the rise of populist movements of various kinds, racism has become one of the key issues debated in the present. This piece stresses the need to recognise racism as a part of the wider social and cultural contexts that populist movements operate within in Nordic countries and beyond. Populist movements’ claims of not being racist gain legitimacy through discourses of race and difference that are generally not recognised as racist but seen as constituting common-sense knowledge that creates an alternative world where racist claims seem to make sense. The article discusses this through three points of emphasis: everyday racism and racist exceptionalism; the idea of prior immobility; and the continued existence of structural racism. Finally, the discussion focuses on this alternative world from the perspective of debates about migration revolving essentially around future anticipation, which become particularly salient during times of crisis.

Revisiting ‘resilience’ in light of racism, ‘othering’ and resistance

“…One of the key characteristics of post second-world-war politics was that 'being racist' became problematised, with the great majority of people unlikely to use the term 'racist' to describe their own or others' biased views. 25 Since then, the Brexit debate has deepened divisions in society to such an extent that, for an army of far-right activists, any 'difference' is now perceived as threatening. 26 This is also reflected in the quotes above, where, instead of addressing the upset that the taunting of her son and the use of the N-word has caused, a mother is told that they will 'call the police and get her arrested'.…”

“…11 Here, through 'self-other' distinctions, claims of not being racist gain legitimacy, and discourses of race, difference and 'low resilience' are seen as constituting common-sense knowledge. 12 Self-other distinctions are central to social and temporal spaces and identities, and research shows that specific social groups (such as members of minority ethnic communities) are often presented as the 'other'. 13 'Othering' is achieved through three distinct representational pathways: through representational absence, through representations of difference, and through representations of threat.…”

Epistemic Violence Toward Immigrant Women in Iceland: Silencing, Smothering, and Linguistic Deficit

“…Yet, through posting their narratives online, women of color in Iceland are indirectly given a platform and visibility. They become narrative subjects that matter, need to be listen to, can be heard, and by doing so a discursive space for immigrant women of color is claimed (Loftsdóttir 2020).…”

Carceral islands: the rise of the Danish deportation archipelago

“…As Kristín Loftsdóttir notes, a denial of empire permeating the national mythology also creates a 'racist exceptionalism', in which racism is seemingly irrelevant to its present-day society. 36…”