Antisemitism and the antiracist struggle

In this paper, I discuss resistance against antisemitism in relation to the overall antiracist struggle. Inspired by postcolonial theory and critical race studies, and by locating notions of “Swedishness” at the core of the analysis, I show that antisemitism can be understood as a form of structural racism entangled with other racisms. Through in-depth interviews with self-identified Jews in Sweden, some of whom had a strong antiracist identity while others did not, the paper sheds lights on the experience of being a minority and having “a rather good life”, not being exposed to discrimination on the labor market, yet being exposed to forms of everyday racism. The paper discusses the opportunities and limitations for antiracist alliances between Jews and other people exposed to racism, not least people from the Middle East, a group that is portrayed as particularly antisemitic in hegemonic discourses.