Affirming or contesting white innocence? Anti-racism frames in grassroots activists’ accounts

Although anti-racism is recognized as a heterogeneous phenomenon, there are few studies that provide analytical tools to grasp the differences between anti-racisms in more detail. This study contributes to the analytical discussion on anti-racism through an analysis of grassroots activists' views on their anti-racism. The data, interviews with 46 grassroots anti-racist activists based in Finland, is explored through a frame analysis. This article argues that meaning-making on racism and anti-racism is tied to conceptions of racial space. The argument is presented through an empirical typology of three anti-racist frames: defence, recognition and redistribution. Distinguishing between the defence, recognition, and redistribution frames enables an understanding of how anti-racisms assume a supposedly "race-neutral" space of white innocence and contest distinct dimensions of racial divides.