Structural Discrimination: A hidden challenge within diversity, difference, and inclusion frameworks

In this article, I discuss structural discrimination, an underrepresented area of study in Danish discrimination and intercultural research. It is defined here as discursive and constitutive, and presented as a central element of my analytical approach. This notion is employed in the with which to understand and identify aspects of power and asymmetry in communication and interactions. With this as a defining term, I address how exclusion and discrimination exist, while also being indiscernible, within widely accepted societal norms. I introduce the concepts of microdiscrimination and benevolent discrimination as two ways of articulating particular, opaque forms of racial discrimination that occur in everyday Danish (and other) contexts, and have therefore become normalized.
I present and discuss discrimination as it surfaces in data from my empirical studies of discrimination in Danish contexts. These studies underscore how everyday assumptions and norms contribute to inadvertent discriminatory communication and practices in particular ways. The article, in introducing the terms microdiscrimination and benevolent discrimination, identifies and addresses attitudes and behaviors that fall outside the purview of everyday understandings of discrimination and racism, yet produce and uphold discrimination, hate and exclusions. It is my hope that these terms can be of use with regard to addressing and reducing contemporary intercultural, migration and discrimination challenges.