No one can have missed the wave of conservative populism, narrow minded nationalism and outright racism that is sweeping across large parts of the world. Even though it hits us very differently, it affects us all – and it is therefore a crucial aspect to address for our class.

Right-Wing Extremism in the Parliaments and in Wider Society

Here in Sweden, the Sweden Democrats have gone in just two decades from an obscure right-wing “discontent party” with clear ties to the white power milieu, to having more or less established itself as the third largest (sometimes second largest) party in the country. During the last term, their previously successive increase since 2002 seemed to have flattened out and even dropped a bit, but now they seem to be turning upwards in the polls again. Simultaneously, the other parties have increasingly mimicked them with a "tighter" migration policy, both from the incumbent "Tidö government" and the opposition leader Magdalena Andersson's Social Democrats.

Social media is also overflown with racist comments, and the phenomenon is definitely not limited to Sweden. In Germany, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) has made significant progress and recently in the UK we saw a demonstration with over 100,000 participants organised by Tommy Robinson (founder of the extreme anti-Muslim group English Defence League), with slogans such as “send them back”, and in the USA we have witnessed brutal ICE raids and deportations.

Divide and Rule

Racism and xenophobia are neither a “natural” phenomenon inherent in us human beings, nor is it a social phenomenon that falls out of the blue. It developed during colonialism and further with the rise of capitalism and has ever since functioned as a way to dehumanise and oppress various groups.

In recent decades, the focus in the Western world has been most strongly directed at Muslims and people who have migrated from the Middle East, but many others are also affected; we hardly need reminding of the fate of black people since the days of slavery and, for example, migrant workers in today’s USA. Capitalism is built on racism, discrimination and ranking of people. In addition to the direct oppression of various individual groups, it is a perfect weapon in the arsenal of the bourgeoisie – to rule by dividing.

The Crisis of Capitalism

From crime and housing shortages to concerns about wages, jobs and the future, "the others" are now being made the scapegoat. The truth is that it is a crisis riden capitalism that is responsible for increasingly harder times and, moreover, its imperialist wars are the direct cause of the migration flows that they are now trying to repel. People have always fled war, oppression and poverty. And the truth is that we are a class of migrants.

But in the absence of a critique of the economic system and the mode of production, cultural and ideological smokescreens become viable. Politicians make excuses for their own failures and the capitalists rub their hands.

Opposing the Anti-Racism of the Left with Class Struggle

Against all this, we must – in addition to unconditional solidarity with specifically exposed groups – put forward a razor-sharp criticism of capitalism and a class analysis. The bourgeoisie has everything to gain from having us split up along racial, national, religious or cultural lines (as well as, of course, gender or sexual orientation, etc).

It is also clear that the bourgeoisie has a more treacherous ideological weapon used to confuse us, and that is bourgeois anti-racism where we are supposed to fight racism with class cooperation with different bourgeois currents through fronts or the like, or with identity politics where we are to fight racism divided as different minorities, separately. This can sometimes seem tempting when they explicitly take a stand against racism, but by cooperating with bourgeois currents they will in reality weaken us and prevent the establishment of class unity and end up in a humanitarian rejection of racism on bourgeois grounds.

What we must instead work for is class unity on a revolutionary basis where we not only fight racism but also what has created racism, namely the capitalist system itself. We fight for class unity not on humanitarian grounds but because it is an absolute necessity in order to establish a balance of power on a clear political basis. Only in this way can we strike back at all the economic attacks that war preparations require, but also racist campaigns and ultimately the capitalist system itself.

When we stand together at rallies or in strikes and demonstrations, no one asks where the person standing next to you was born. That is why both racism and bourgeois anti-racism divide us and prevent the creation of class unity.

We Must Take Up the Fight

Currently, this is happening too little and at too low a level, but the situation is not black and white and examples of struggle and resistance exist. Here in Sweden, Wolt couriers in Örebro have recently gone on a wildcat strike, workers at the Medicarrier healthcare warehouse (with many migrant workers) have also gone on strike, healthcare staff at St. Göran's Hospital have collectively threatened with mass resignations and through that stopped pay reductions, furthermore, train staff have organised non-union mass meetings in Mälardalen and we still have the wildcat strike on the commuter trains in 2023 fresh in mind, just to take a few examples. In the UK, a wave of strikes among cleaners and other service staff at universities has swept across the country, with many times migrant and local workers side by side and in Holland and Italy migrant workers have struck against extreme conditions. It is this type of struggle that must be taken and intensified, to spread and show solidarity with each other.

As workers, regardless of whether we are "foreign" or "native", "black" or "white", we must try to realise our common interests. The only way to truly improve our situation is to end the profit-hungry system that drives humanity everywhere into conflict and poverty. If we are united, we are many and can become a powerful factor that can repel the attacks.

We must respond to racism and divisive politics with class unity! The truth is that a capitalist world will always be a world of oppression and different statuses that prevent freedom and opportunities for people. Therefore, we must also link the struggle for our living conditions today to a quest to abolish capitalism and create a world without states, national borders, money, wage labor and classes. In this struggle, we have no allies in today's parties and unions but must create our own organs of class power and, by extension, a revolutionary organisation, a real class party.

Another world, free from exploitation, oppression and racism is possible – let us take up the struggle as a class!