Institutional racism, inclusivity and colour-blindness in the Finnish police
This article examines police attitudes related to racism, non-discrimination and racialised minorities in the Nordic welfare state context, as well as the central framings that police use when addressing these questions. It aims to contribute to the research tradition that investigates the understan...
| Authors: | ; |
|---|---|
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2026
|
| In: |
Policing and society
Year: 2026, Volume: 36, Issue: 1, Pages: 58-75 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Keywords: |
| Summary: | This article examines police attitudes related to racism, non-discrimination and racialised minorities in the Nordic welfare state context, as well as the central framings that police use when addressing these questions. It aims to contribute to the research tradition that investigates the understandings of institutional racism and the racialisation of minorities by police. Adopting a mixed-methods approach, the article combines quantitative analysis from a survey conducted with police officers in three police districts in Finland and qualitative analysis of the responses to the open-ended survey questions. The article identifies three main orientations among the police: colour-blind universalism, inclusivity and anti-wokeness. While the police is divided between attitudes characterised by inclusivity and those of anti-wokeness, many officers adopt a colour-blind universalist orientation, supporting equality but lacking the ability or willingness to recognise structural racism. Despite these differences, police officers also commonly hold a set of views about minority communities, which we conceptualise as ‘racial undercurrents’. The article argues that while there is a struggle amongst police officers about (the implementation of) inclusivity and non-discrimination policies the shared racial undercurrents uphold the central parameters of the Finnish racial state. The findings also witness of efforts to address racism and develop non-discrimination work within police. The racial welfare state is characterised by two kinds of processes – those seeking to challenge existing racialising ideologies and structures and those reproducing (consciously or by following taken-for-granted notions and routines) the racial hierarchies of the society. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1477-2728 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/10439463.2025.2516172 |
