Denmark’s blond vision and the fractal logics of a nation in danger

ABSTRACT

Recent research has introduced the notion of fractal logic as a way of rethinking racialization and ideas and practices of nationhood. We have claimed elsewhere that racial reasoning instantiates a specific fractal logic called the nation in danger, which can be found in circulating images, soundbites, visual signs, metaphors, and narratives created in political communication, news media, and everyday conversations. In these studies, human reasoning is approached as fractals, which implies that the same structure appears self-similarly at different levels. This article examines the nation in danger as a basis for aggressive exclusionary reasoning and practices. Two Danish media events from 2016 are looked at: the segregation of swim classes and the new segregation of schools according to ‘nationality’ and ‘ethnicity.’ By using fractal logic, the nation in danger operates recurrently at different levels and, consequently, constitutes a form of naturalization of the white nationalism that saturates Danish racial reasoning and public debate.

KEYWORDS:

• Racialization
• neonationalism
• fractal logic
• nation in danger
• white nationalism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by The Study of Experiences and Reactions to Racialization in Denmark under Velux Grant Foundation number 10321.