(Un)making ‘extreme’ and ‘ordinary’ whiteness: Activists’ narratives on antiracist mobilisation in Finland

Abstract

This article analyses narratives of antiracist mobilisation against anti-immigration racism and the far and extreme right in Finland. The antiracist mobilisation narrative is, first, analysed against the backdrop of critical theorisation of racism and antiracism, which has critiqued conceptions of racism that link the term exclusively to the far and extreme right as too narrow. Second, the analysis builds upon the heuristic distinction between ‘extreme whiteness’ and ‘whiteness as ordinariness’ (or ‘ordinary whiteness’) made in the field of critical whiteness studies. Drawing on empirical data on activists’ narratives on grassroots antiracist engagement in Finland, the article explores the distinct positionalities and perspectives in the antiracist mobilisation narrative. In other words, the article discusses the consequences of grasping racism primarily as anti-immigration propagation and right-wing populism – or, as extreme whiteness – in antiracist activists’ narratives on mobilisation. By locating the aspects of extreme and ordinary whiteness in the mobilisation narrative, the article shows how the antiracist narrative risks reproducing white-normativity. The article argues that to overcome white-normativity, antiracist narratives are required to grasp extreme and ordinary whiteness as interrelated parts of the same power structure.

Reproducing white normativity in parties' candidate recruitment: Evidence from the 2017 Finnish municipal elections

“…We argue that the qualitative analysis provides more nuanced perspectives on underrepresentation of EMMs in the 2017 Finnish municipal election. We show that both anti‐immigration racist rhetoric and its contestation might in some cases assume whiteness as a norm in a way that fails to recognize EMMs' (and other minorities') political agency (Seikkula, 2019; on diversity work's failures see Ahmed, 2012). Concomitantly, we also consider the cases where the advancement of diversity on the ballot lists is considered as part of enhancing the collective capacity to live together and contesting the dichotomous division between ‘us and them’ (cf.…”

“…White normativity, consisting of a set of distinct attributes (both phenotypical and 'cultural' features as well as religious commitment, see Hage, 2000), guides perceptions of who are (not) regarded as legitimate, credible and trustworthy members of the community. While the term 'whiteness' is rarely explicitly invoked in Finnish language discussions (Seikkula, 2019), the euphemistic distinction between 'Finns and immigrants' suggests a space divided by white, native citizens and often non-European and non-white migrants (see also Mulinari et al, 2009; on the term 'immigrant ' Leinonen, 2012). Further, previous research has shown that the category of the 'immigrant other' is not to be reduced to the phenotype.…”

“…In contrast, while most of the interviewees highlighted that the ballot lists must include EMM candidates at least in municipalities where EMM residents form a notable share of the population, many were reluctant to talk about numeric goals in terms of how many EMM candidates should be included on the lists. This can be understood as an indication of the discursive environment, where racialized differences or representation of EMMs is customarily not addressed (Seikkula, 2019(Seikkula, , p. 1008. At the same time, the colour-evasive rhetoric undermines possibilities to address specific obstacles for persons from an ethnic minority to present themselves as candidates.…”

(Un)making the established-outsiders figuration in anti-racist and migrant rights activism

“…Echoing the fairly recent increase of immigration to Finland, the Finnish public debate has framed racism as a novel and immigration-related phenomenon, while white antiracists have also contributed to this narrative (Seikkula, 2017(Seikkula, , 2019). Yet, racialisation and oppression of the Roma, a long-standing ethnic minority in Finland, as well as the Sámi, the indigenous people whose homeland stretches over northern parts of Finland, have long been instrumental in the construction of the white Finnish nation (see, e.g.…”

Contextualising Feminisms in the Nordic Region: Neoliberalism, Nationalism, and Decolonial Critique

“…Nordic researchers have identified a variety of movements that resist racism and European border control policies, best exemplified by the 'refugees welcome' movements and mobilisations against racism and neo-Nazism (Ålund et al 2017;Seikkula 2019). Beside these more high-profile forms of social protest, everyday struggles against ethnic discrimination and segregation have diversified in both form and content (Schierup et al 2006).…”