Preserving white privileges in organizations: white fragility, white counterreactions, and institutional resistance

Abstract

Racialized inequalities in organizations and workplaces are reproduced not only by the discrimination of non-whites but also by behaviors among whites aimed at counteracting and resisting initiatives and measures aimed at achieving racial equality. On this background, the purpose of the present study was to empirically investigate expressions of white fragility, white counterreactions, and institutional resistance in organizational contexts in Sweden, as well as how these processes relate to system justificatory ideologies such as colorblind racism and meritocracy. In doing so, the study used a cross-sectional design and a large sample (N = 2774) of adults from the Swedish labor market to test hypotheses about the investigated concepts. The results of the study provided support for the hypotheses that white fragility, white counterreactions, and institutional resistance are relevant concepts to the understanding of the racial dynamics and the reproduction of racialized inequalities in organizations also outside the North American context (in this case Sweden). In addition, the study shows that white fragility is positively associated with colorblind racism and belief in meritocracy and highlights the role of these ideologies in legitimizing and maintaining workplace inequalities.