Racism

This chapter introduces the concept of racism, especially for people who are not negatively impacted by racism themselves. It explains what racism means, how it works, and why understanding it is essential when working with people on the move.

What does racism mean?

Roots of colonialism, enslavement, economic exploitation and capitalism

Racism is a global social phenomenon that cannot be viewed in isolation from its historical connection with colonialism, enslavement, economic exploitation and the emergence of capitalism, which impacts today’s society at large.

Structural power imbalance

It represents a system of beliefs, norms, and values that is rooted in structures and “embedded in historical configurations of power”(1).

Historical exploitation and its consequences today

Historical exploitation and unequal distribution of resources and opportunities leads to consequences visible today:” the unfair apportioning of justice, wealth, pleasure, and pain. It is less an error in logic than an abuse of power, less about “attitudes” than about the deferring of hopes and the destruction of lives”(2).

Harmful oppression related to ancestral descent

Racism can be understood as an oppression concerning ancestral roots coupled with discriminatory action, affecting BIPOC people(3). It is usually constructed around “biological, cultural, religious, linguistic or territorially based boundaries, and can be comprehended across varied contexts in terms of skin color, ethnicity, language, religion, tribe, caste, kinship and nationality”(4).

Forms and Manifestations of Racism

▶Direct Manifestation

Racism can be expressed in a very clear and obvious manner, for example by people who declare their racist and xenophobic attitude openly. In this, humans are explicitly seen and treated as less-human and less-worth.

▶Structural Form

Racism also manifests itself in subconscious individual behaviour, thought and language, but also in our institutions, culture and law. It is much more difficult to point out these subliminal and complex forms of racism. Our society — and therefore all of us — carry many of those unconscious forms of racism. Because of those different forms, the term racism is also used in plural. It is always important and necessary to deal with racism responsibly, even if you already understand yourself as anti-racist.

▶“Color-Blind” Form and Discourse of Power

Critiques of color-blindness reveal how liberal ideals of neutrality can function as discourses of power. By equating dominant racism with marginalized forms of cultural or political resistance, these frameworks erase asymmetries of power. Some theorists argue that liberalism itself contains exclusionary logics that conceal the social credentials determining real inclusion — such as whiteness, masculinity, nationality, and property ownership. The refusal to acknowledge these dynamics has long fueled narratives of reverse discrimination, in which those who benefit from institutional favoritism frame themselves as victims of unfair advantage.

Consequences of racism

What does this mean for you?

Because racism is a complex hierarchical system — a structured ensemble of social and institutional practices and discourses — individuals do not have to actively express or practice racism to be its beneficiaries(5,6). This means:

We all have racist patterns of behaviour and thought inside of us because we grew up and were socialised in a racist world.

We all live in structures that privilege certain people and discriminate against others.

These structures have developed historically in the course of colonisation and the systematic oppression and exploitation of large groups of people — and continue to do so today.

Precisely because it is a structural phenomenon, racism is less bound to single individuals, but rather implemented in ideas, world views, media representations, the work of institutions, and international law.

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Racism

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