Notes on racism, democracy, and research

Abstract

Reactionary Democracy addresses the mutual influences between far-right and mainstream political discourse, arguing that the renewal of right-wing radicalism has legitimized liberal racism whilst distracting us from its systemic expressions. Whilst the book is an important endeavour helping to enunciate debates on racism next to an audience interested in populism studies, political and democratic theories, I suggest we consider how such a research programme can more substantively contribute to challenge historical, structurally-embedded racial injustice: firstly, critically engaging with the shortcomings of an understanding of racism as the “denial of democracy” as a starting point for enquiry; secondly, systematically addressing the dynamic interrelation between political discourse and processes of legitimation regarding key debates and issues across the political spectrum, as well as between political debate, policymaking and institutional practice; finally, offering a historically-informed, interdisciplinary approach capable of elucidating persistent state-sanctioned patterns of racialized governance and Eurocentric knowledge production in public universities.