The Power of Silence: Variations in the Reproduction of Racial Capitalism Among White Male-dominated Trade Unions in Sweden

Paula Mulinari & Anders Neergaard

In their essay,  Paula Mulinari and Anders Neergaard examine the role of white and male- dominated trade unions in shaping the racial capitalism of the so-called Swedish Model. Inspired by W.E.B. Du Bois’s re-writing of U.S history, where white (and male) trade unions play a central role in producing and reproducing racial labor and social inequalities, the chapter points to the role of Swedish labor unions in reproducing racial capitalism and an ethno-racial welfare state. The chapter ends with the questiona discussion of to what extent and how trade unions—which are central to the Swedish model—may challenge racial capitalism.

Decolonial Sweden