Internal dynamics, culture and contestations in BLM and anti-racist networks in Wales

This article explores the internal dynamics, strategic dilemmas, and contested identities within Black Lives Matter (BLM) and anti-racist networks in Wales. Drawing on 21 semi-structured interviews with activists and allies, the study adopts a cultural approach to social movements to examine identity, digital activism, and decentralised leadership shaping activists’ strategies and engagement. Using James Jasper’s framework of ‘players and arenas’, the article demonstrates that participation is shaped more by biography, emotional attachment, and strategic choice than by shared ideology. A key contribution lies in its focus on Wales, a devolved and overlooked context within BLM scholarship. Wales is a distinctive case study because of its cultural and national identity, historically shaped by a narrative of tolerance toward minoritised communities. By foregrounding activism in a small nation, the study extends debates on movements outside metropolitan centres and within devolved political settings. It shows how activists’ biographies and strategies complicate assumptions of collective identity, highlighting the contested and everyday enactment of anti-racism. The Welsh case reveals a decentralised activist landscape marked by solidarity and tension. Contestations emerge around actions, relationships with organisations, and competition for resources. The study advances debates on race, identity, political participation, and tensions between grassroots and institutionalised anti-racism.