TOWARDS A GLOBALIZED UNDERSTANDING OF BLACK POLITICAL SUBJECTIVITY: BLACK LIVES MATTER IN THE UK, SWEDEN, AND GLOBAL CIVIL SOCIETY*

This study examines the global spread of antiracist activism following 2020 through a comparative analysis of Black Lives Matter (BLM) movements in Sweden and the UK. Rather than treating nation states as isolated units, as dominant models of transnational diffusion typically do, this study emphasizes the role of supranational political identities and global civil society in shaping movement development. Through discourse analysis of movement texts, the research demonstrates how BLM actors in both countries connect local grievances to shared histories of colonialism, slavery, and racial capitalism, positioning themselves within a global Black political consciousness. The research demonstrates how these movements both draw from and contribute to a transnational repository of Black resistance, circulating ideas and building solidarity through informal digital and diasporic networks. By examining diffusion through the framework of global power structures and diasporic identification, this study provides a more historically grounded and multiscalar understanding of BLM’s international impact.