In the last few weeks a familiar subject matter has dominated headlines again: is structural racism an issue in the UK, Norway, France, and many other countries? Is this term, which is often situated in an American context, relevant to Europe and other parts of the world? PRIO Research Director Marta Bivand Erdal goes beyond the debate on whether or not structural racism is a useful term to the heart of the matter: no matter what terms we use, she argues, people are experiencing discrimination big and small in their everyday lives. And often linked quite simply to other people’s assumptions, which they base on what a person looks like. How can these incidents be resolved and reckoned with?
Related material
- ‘It should change’: Young people on skin colour and national belonging in Norway (PRIO Blog post, co-authored by Marta and Mette Strømsø)
- Antiracism: the willingness to understand others (PRIO Blog post, co-authored by Marta and Peder Nustad)
- The Debate on Structural Racism Is Far More Polarized Than It Needs to Be (PRIO Blog post by Marta, originally published in Norwegian in Utrop)
- Project webpage for Negotiating the Nation: Implications of Ethnic and Religious Diversity for National Identity (NATION), led by Marta
- Project webpage for Governing and Experiencing Citizenship in Multicultural Scandinavia (GOVCIT), also led by Marta
