Resistance and negotiation : The intersection of constraining norms in educational settings

The aim of the paper is to illustrate students’ own experiences and educators’observations of constrain power structures that lead to an unequal treatment of children based on gender, ethnicity, race, socioeconomic and other intersecting powers. The composite empirical data, consisting of fieldnotes, interviews and students’ notes, was collected in a large city in Sweden. The analysis, based onintersectional analytic framework, demonstrates that children and adolescents are aware that those who, for instance, are racialized, do not speak normative Swedish, have migration background or lack economic resources are marginalised andinterpellated as being in the ‘basement’ of social hierarchies. A consequence of constraining power structures that many children experience is stereotyping, and marginalisation based on racialisation, ethnicization, oppressive gender norms, adults hegemonic position etc. Based on these critical observations, the paper proposes norm-critical perspective to transform these constraining power structure.The shift towards norm-critical perspectives, is not about the rejection of all norms, but rather a possibility to explore, analyse, learn and engage in the ways exclusionaryand constraining discourses and practices are created, maintained and contribute to the marginalisation and oppression, while other groups are cited as ‘normal’ and given privileged positions