Chicago University Press

RACE THEORY: In the United States, Republicans ban the study of racism. In Denmark, the Folketing has decided that the universities are «European». Viktor Orbán in Hungary had gender studies removed, and in Poland, social anthropology has become a favorite object of hatred. In Norway, the government sets up a commission due to fears of debate about "racist structures". The Norwegian public has copied this right-wing narrative from the United States – the notion that critical race theory, ie academic knowledge, should be a "societal problem". The background is an African-American intellectual heritage that began with the thinker Phillis Wheatley over 200 years ago.

THE MIMETIC POWER: Imitating another is also a way to gain power over the person portrayed. And how often do we see an imitation of the cosmos at a bar in a dark side street?