Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Whiteness Studies within education are internationally well-established fields but have been slow in developing in Nordic countries – delays that are partly due to a reluctance to engage with racism in the Nordic context.

Critical race and Whiteness studies are based on the tenet that racism permeates the social and structural fabric and silently perpetuates racial inequalities. It thus advocates for the transformation of educational and institutional practices as a matter of social justice (Bell, 1992; Kimberle Crenshaw, 1990; Kimberlé Crenshaw, 1995; Delgado, Harris, Harris, & Stefancic, 2017; Ladson-Billings, 1998) (Bell 1992; Crenshaw 1995; Delgado & Stefanic 2001). Critical race and Whiteness perspectives provide analytical approaches to interrogate the ways race and Whiteness are socio-culturally constructed and reproduced within and through institutionalized educational practices (Ladson-Billings 1998). Given their unique and increasingly diverse educational landscapes, Nordic educational researchers point to the need to collectively develop research-based knowledge of race and Whiteness in its contemporary forms – a task that is of central concern and interest to this network.

Research indicates that Nordic societies are viewed as already fair and equal (Lundström & Hübinette, 2022; Schough, 2008). This view inhibits research on contemporary racism and perpetuates a colorblind approach and obscure how power structures and racial inequalities are reproduced in educational arenas (Wahlström Smith, 2020). Beliefs of Nordic exceptionalism and egalitarianism combined with the reluctance to name race or racialization have delayed theoretical understandings of racism in its contemporary forms (Lundström & Hübinette, 2022). Current research indicates a need to locate and interrupt absences in the theory and knowledge concerning race, Whiteness and coloniality in educational arenas. It is in this area that research in this network wishes to intervene, since the absence of theoretical development not only constitutes a lack but is also constructive in terms of reproducing unjust practices.

Several studies demonstrate how racialized structures create different opportunities for different students in education (Helakorpi, Lappalainen, & Mietola, 2020; Lundberg, 2021). Fields such as multicultural education – that strives to strengthen participation for all students – however easily reproduce Othering, and specifically racialization, and a dichotomy of natives and immigrants (Hummelstedt, 2022). Thus, there is a need to explicitly focus on race, racism, and Whiteness in education to disrupt these structures and practices.

References

Bell, D. A. (1992). Faces at the bottom of the well : The permanence of racism: BasicBooks.

Crenshaw, K. (1990). Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. Stan. L. Rev., 43, 1241.

Crenshaw, K. (1995). Critical race theory : the key writings that formed the movement: New Press.

Delgado, R. a. h. i. l. g. v. r. a., Harris, A. c. h. i. l. g. v. r. c., Harris, A., & Stefancic, J. a. h. i. l. g. v. r. a. (2017). Critical Race Theory (Third Edition) : An Introduction: New York University Press.

Helakorpi, J., Lappalainen, S., & Mietola, R. (2020). Equality in the making? Roma and Traveller minority policies and basic education in three Nordic countries. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 64(1), 52-69.

Hummelstedt, I. (2022). Acknowledgning diversity but reproducing the Other: A critical analysis of Finnish multicultural education. Helsinki Studies in Education, number 138.

Ladson-Billings, G. (1998). Just what is critical race theory and what's it doing in a nice field like education? International journal of qualitative studies in education, 11(1), 7-24. doi:10.1080/095183998236863

Lundberg, O. (2021). The property functions of whiteness and Swedishness – a case study of race reputation and status in urban education. Nordic Journal of Studies in Educational Policy, 7(3), 148-158. doi:10.1080/20020317.2021.2008114

Lundström, C., & Hübinette, T. (2022). Den färgblinda skolan : Ras och vithet i svensk utbildning. Stockholm: Natur och kultur.

Schough, K. (2008). Hyperboré: Föreställningen om Sveriges plats i världen: Carlsson.

Wahlström Smith, Å. (2020). Beyond Colour-Blind Intercultural Education: Operationalising the Concept of Culture for Future Preschool Teachers. kritisk etnografi: Swedish Journal of Anthropology, 3(2), 37-53.