Neo-sectarianism and Rainbow Coalitions by Abby Peterson

Author:Abby Peterson [Peterson, Abby]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, General, Sociology
ISBN: 9780429820007
Google: mviADwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2018-12-20T03:45:05+00:00

The activists' visions of an antiracist society: 'This is my dream so to say'

Almost all of the antiracist activists interviewed in this study emphasized that the struggle against racism has to include a struggle for a better society, that the struggle could not limit itself to a response towards racism, a simple reaction against racism, but must include a vision of an antiracist society. This vision varied, as did the strategies towards which these visions could be reached, but their visions had a number of common denominators — economic and civil equality, mutual understanding and respect.

Karl, an anarchist antiracist activist, expresses the dilemma of the antiracist movement.

Against capitalism, Utopian visions of anarchist, socialist or communist societies are formulated. And against sexism we have feminism and against racism is, well, antiracism. But this is not an alternative, it is a reply...an antiracist Utopia isn't formulated.

Karl is perhaps correct that the antiracist Utopian vision, when it is formulated, tends to include fragments rather than a complete political package, but nevertheless antiracist visions are being tentatively formulated.

Two different, though related, visions of an antiracist society crystallize in the empirical study. Sven, a young activist in the Liberal Youth Association, claims that when we have reached the point when only immigrants apply for entry and refugees no longer seek asylum in Sweden, we have come a long way towards an antiracist vision of society. Sven's vision is a new global order that would eliminate mass migrations of political and economic refugees.

Here in Sweden we must contribute towards raising the standard of living in the Third World in order to achieve a more equal distribution of wealth, so that people do no need to flee from their countries because of poverty...And we must support democratic movements of emancipation around the world so that people do not need to flee because of fear...Our goal is to make the world more in tune with social liberalism.

While Sven visualizes a new world order, he feels that it is so terribly far away and with a note of resignation he says that he concentrates more upon what he can do today, i.e. demonstrate against racism and racist activities.

The majority of activists interviewed emphasized that greater economic equality is a prerequisite for an antiracist society. The socialist and anarchist youth activists stressed the need for radical changes in Swedish society for achieving their antiracist vision. They argue for the necessity of a new societal order in order to achieve their vision of an antiracist society, however, instead of a new world order based on the tenets of social liberalism they advocate a new societal order based on the principles of socialism. Antiracism, for these activists, is intimately and irrevocably connected to a struggle for a transformation of economic and political structures. Pelle, a socialist antiracist activist, emphasizes that in a long-range perspective an antiracist society can be first achieved:

when we all share the same living conditions. And that means a lot of changes in the economic and political relations in the country.

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