Racialisering og viljen til det gode i børnehavens sprogarbejde

Abstract

In this article, an egalitarian project concerning children’s language in kindergartens is explored through the concepts racialization and doing good. The investigation is based on analyses of language testing material and an interview with a social educator. It is argued that the language test implies racial expectations, and that bilingual children are being embedded and interpreted within an understanding of monolingual, danish children’s development history. Furthermore, it is argued that the social educator’s urge to do good is performed through emotional investments in racial understandings of bilingual children. Finally, it is concluded that the project concerning children’s language contains racial debris, which does not constitute an unambiguous figure, but activates processes, which are initiated and maintained through racializing logics and emotional investments.