Futures of anti-racism: paradoxes of deracialisation in Brazil, South Africa, Sweden, and the UK

In: Mapping global racisms

Abstract

This book assesses the nature and extent of the project of deracialisation required to counter the contemporary dynamics of racialisation across four varieties of modernity: Sweden, South Africa, Brazil and the UK, based on original research on each of the four country contexts. Since racism began to be recognised or identified as a problem, an assemblage of supra-national initiatives have been devised in the name of combatting, dismantling or reducing it. There has been a recent shift whereby such supra-national bodies move toward embedding strategies against racism within the framework of human rights and devolving such responsibility to other bodies at a national level. The book brings together a team of international experts in this field, in order to compare the priorities and effectiveness of current strategic approaches in each national context, examining their relationalities and connecting these cases within a joint theoretical and methodological framework. Thus, this book contributes to theoretical knowledge on racialisation and deracialisation, and establishes new principles and practice for national projects of deracialisation and anti-racism, building on cross-national learning. Nikolay Zakharov is Senior Lecturer, Sociology Department, Sodertorn University, Sweden. Shirley Anne Tate is Professor and Canada Research Chair, Sociology Department, University of Alberta, Canada. Ian Law was Emeritus Professor, School of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Leeds, UK. Joaze Bernardino-Costa is Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Brasilia, Brazil.