The court as an arena for social contestations. Conceptualisations and understandings of racism

Courts and judicial processes have emerged as arenas on which political and social contestations over racism increasingly is taking place in Sweden. This presentation is part of a larger project where we analyse cases in which political struggles around racism and migration have moved into courts. The overall purpose is to understand what kind of space courts provide for protection from, and debate about racism, and how different forms of activism involving anti-racism and migrants’ rights are mobilised. Central to this are explorations of the ways in which central issues and claims are expressed within the different frames of knowledge production offered by social movements, the judiciary, political processes and other relevant arenas.
Based on the material collected within this project, consisting of inter- views with relevant actors, document analysis and observations in courts, this paper zooms in specifically on the conceptualisations and understandings of racism. Theoretically, the paper engages in feminist and intersectional critique of law and the state.