Are you Caucasian, Black, or Asian? A study of the current Swedish biopolitical paradigm of race and ethnicity in medicine

This three-year project investigates the current biopolitical framework concerning race and ethnicity in Swedish biomedicine.

Building upon a previous research project that highlighted the growing "biologization" of race and ethnicity in Swedish medical research, which involved the adoption of racial concepts and categories from the USA (e.g., "White" and "Black"), this project seeks to understand the reasons behind and implications of using such race concepts and categories in the Swedish context.

Notably, notions of race (and ethnicity) in the USA significantly differ from those in Sweden, where the concept of race has been more or less taboo for many years. The project employs a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods.

Firstly, a scoping review of contemporary medical research in Sweden that addresses racial and ethnic differences is conducted to provide an overarching view of how race and ethnicity categories are employed in classifying human research subjects.

Secondly, three case studies are conducted to explore key aspects of how race is currently utilized in Swedish biomedicine and medical practice, encompassing historical connections to racial medicine as well as contemporary efforts to standardize treatment and care based on race.

The project´s findings will contribute critical insights into the relationship between the use of race standards in medical research and practice and the use of racial categories and concepts in contemporary Swedish society.