Black Lives and the New Wave of Antiracist Mobilization within and across World Regions

The violent death of George Floyd has sparked mass mobilizations in the U.S. and led to an unprecedented diffusion of “Black Lives Matter” protests around the world. However, anti-racist and black activism has a long tradition in different regions. This session wants to explore the new wave of antiracist mobilizations. Some argue that the recent wave of mobilization - while strengthening and transforming pre-existing antiracist activism in different countries - still remains largely a support of the US BLM movement. Others have pointed out, that the new shape of anti-racist mobilizations and black women’s activism, although often transnational, have little to do with dynamics in the US. They are rather a response to the recent crisis of democracy, including recent advances in the systems of oppression of intersectional marginalized social groups. This session, therefore, asks: How far is the recent wave of Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPoC) activism inspired by US protests? What narratives, visual and performative repertoire, identity constructs, actors, forms of resistance, and networks shape the recent mobilization in different localities? What are its context-specific historical and regional origins? Could we apply a global perspective on the recent mobilization? What are the connections between the biographical and collective projects in dealing with different forms of discrimination and racism in the Global North and the Global South? This session seeks to discuss these topics with scholars from different world regions which explore the topic of anti-racist mobilization in its local and global constellations.