Navigating and Countering Everyday Antimuslim Racism: The Case of Muslim Women in Sweden

Abstract

In a socio-political context where antimuslim racism has gained momentum, this article aims to understand Muslim women’s everyday life experiences of racialization in Sweden. More importantly, it aims to highlight what strategies are developed in order to navigate and counter these experiences. By using the concepts of double consciousness, orientations, and respectability together with an understanding of Muslims as a racialized category, the article shows how experiences of antimuslim racism are handled by the women in different ways, both on individual and collective level. Being a Muslim woman in Sweden requires developing strategies and sometimes engaging in respectability politics.