The magic of feminist bridging : a mosaic of anti-racist speech bubbles about othering in Swedish Academia

Kawesa, Victoria and Knobblock, Ina and Vlachou, Maria and Koobak, Redi and Mehrabi, Tara and Tlostanova, Madina and Lykke, Nina (2023) The magic of feminist bridging : a mosaic of anti-racist speech bubbles about othering in Swedish Academia. Kvinder, Køn & Forskning, 36 (2). pp. 147-161. (https://doi.org/10.7146/kkf.v36i2.134731)

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Abstract

Are feminist coalitions magical enough to survive and endure while questioning and shaking the colonial/racist foundations of Swedish academic knowledge production and the overall Swedish society? Can feminist bridging and collective writing remain a magical process even when grappling with difficult experiences and memories of Othering and racialization? This is a creatively and collectively written article on feminist coalition building, and its importance in thinking, articulating and deconstructing race, racialization and racist structures. More than two years ago, seven interdisciplinary gender studies scholars of mixed ethnic and racial origins, came together to explore our differently situated experiences of disidentifying with Swedish academia and society in a collective we call Loving Coalitions (capital initials). Against the background of Swedish exceptionalism, historical amnesia of Sweden's colonial past and present, and the deafening silence on Swedish whiteness and racism, we are sharing our poems, letters, texts and testimonies of racist interactions in Swedish academia and society. While doing so, we discuss how moving away from conventional ways of doing research and experimenting with creative methodological alternatives allow us to acknowledge and embrace our different life backgrounds and academic trajectories as a mode of knowledge production. We hope and believe that our experiences, reflections and ways to resist racism and Othering in Sweden and Swedish academia through alternative coalition building, based on mutual care and love, can be relevant in a Danish context as well.

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