Racial Capitalism, Welfare Carcerality, and the Danish Ghetto Policies

This article examines the interplay between racial capitalism and the carceral logic of the Danish welfare state through an analysis of the so-called ghetto policies introduced in 2018. These public housing policies target neighborhoods with a majority of Muslim residents. Rather than view these policies as a divergence from the universality of the Danish welfare system, the article argues that they reveal the welfare state's inherent raciality — one that predates the welfare model. Drawing on Cedric Robinson, the article shows how Denmark's colonial past and racial state formation laid the groundwork for the capitalist exploitation of labor migrants and contemporary welfare practices that surveil and displace racialized communities. The 2018 ghetto policies do not represent a shift in ideological direction but rather mark an intensification of a racial carceral logic long embedded within the Danish welfare state. Building on Ruth Wilson Gilmore's concept of carceral geographies, as well as archival data, critical policy analysis, and ethnographic research, the article ultimately traces how public housing policies have become tools for punitive governance under the guise of cultural integration.