Laying Grounds for Dialogue

Exploring Anti‐Racist Activists' Negotiations of Emotions When Challenging Colour‐Blindness in Norway

Bibliographic Data

ID19213649
AuthorsKine Marie Michelet (0009-0003-7690-6837, Metropolitan University, corresponding author)
Year2026
Publication date2026-05-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueBritish Journal of Sociology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0007-1315 • E-ISSN: 1468-4446
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/1468-4446.70121
PMID42070231
OpenAlexW7159961870
LanguageEN
References cited25

In this article, I explore how 36 Norwegian anti-racist activists of colour negotiate emotions when engaging with the white majority population. Much recent research on racist ideology draws on Bonilla-Silva's framework of colour-blindness, arguing that the white majority nowadays is more likely to deny systemic racism. However, few studies have explored the relationship between micro-level interactions and colour-blind ideology beyond the realm of language. Using Ahmed's theory on affective economies along with decolonial perspectives on emotions, I empirically demonstrate how an unequal distribution of emotions across racial divides works as a central mechanism in the development of colour-blind ideology. This finding reveals the need to incorporate the role of emotions within the literature on colour-blindness more broadly, as similar tendencies may be prevalent in other Western societies

Embodied cognition · Ideology · Mechanism (biology) · Negotiation · Norwegian · Realm · White (mutation) · Critical Race Theory in Education · Interdisciplinary Cultural and Social Studies · Racial and Ethnic Identity Research

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Open DOIOpen Access