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Race and Racism
in Britain
Fourth Edition

John Solomos
Race and Racism in Britain
John Solomos

Race and Racism


in Britain
Fourth Edition
John Solomos
University of Warwick
Department of Sociology
Coventry, UK

ISBN 978-3-031-11842-5    ISBN 978-3-031-11843-2 (eBook)


https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-11843-2
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
2022, 2003
Previously published under the imprint Palgrave
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the
whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations,
recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or
information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar
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The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does
not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective
laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are
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give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or
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lished maps and institutional affiliations.

Cover illustration: KaanC / Getty Images

This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Preface

This is the Fourth Edition of Race and Racism in Britain. It comes out at a time
when the key issues that it discusses are the focus of extensive political debate
as well as everyday conversations in the wider civil society. Like the previous
three editions, it aims to provide readers with an up-to-date overview of con-
temporary scholarship, research, and policy debates about the changing con-
tours of race and racism in British society, focusing particularly on the second
half of the twentieth century and the first three decades of the twenty-first
century. To achieve this objective, we have substantially reworked the book as
a whole and each chapter to take account of new scholarship and research to
take more fully into account the key developments that have come to the fore
over the past three decades. We have also engaged fully with the new theoreti-
cal and conceptual debates that have helped to transform the study of racial
and ethnic relations over the past few decades. At the same time, we have
aimed to hold on to the objective that led us to produce the first edition over
three decades ago, namely, to provide an accessible resource for both students
and lecturers who are curious about the origins and trajectory of political and
policy debates in this fast-changing area. Although much has changed in the
decades that have followed there remains a noticeable need for a book such as
this that aims to provide an overview of the changing role of race and racism
in British society. It is with this overarching objective in mind that we have
produced this new edition in the hope that it will meet the needs of current
and future cohorts of students who are curious about both the origins of the
present situation and want to explore key areas of political and policy debate.
The continuing relevance of the key issues that are the focus of this book
has been highlighted over the past few decades by the experience of ongoing
debates about racialisation and national identity, about urban unrest and

v
vi Preface

protest, controversies about immigration and refugees, the public furore about
the Windrush Generation, intense political debates about Brexit, public con-
versations about the extent of racialised inequalities in British society, the
continuing conversation about the Grenfell Tower fire, and by the intense
debates about Black Lives Matter and the ongoing policy discussions about the
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on black and ethnic minority workers
and communities. Although these issues may seem unconnected on the sur-
face it is also important, as we suggest in this book, to remain curious about
the links between them. As you go through the substantive chapters of this
book, we hope that you can explore whether there are any links between
them, and that you can explore the complexities of the contemporary racialised
politics in British society.
It is also evident that the role of race and racism as an important factor in
contemporary social and political issues is now widely recognised in a broad
range of societies beyond Britain, as has been made clear by ongoing public
debates about racism and racial divisions across the globe, the mobilisations
about Black Lives Matter, and related issues. It is therefore important to
remember that when we study these issues in relation to British society, we are
also inevitably looking at phenomena that have a global reach and that it is
important therefore to avoid the tendency to see our national story as some-
how unique. Rather, as we argue throughout this book, the issues that we are
addressing are part of social and political relations that have an impact in vari-
ous geopolitical contexts. We cannot explore these connections in any detail
in this book, but as you go through the various chapters, you will see some
discussion of the ways in which our experience in Britain connects with other
national narratives or in some cases is marked by the historical and contem-
porary trajectories that have helped to make ideas and values around racial
and ethnic relations take specific forms in our society.
While for some commentators there was hope that the twenty-first century
would see the realisation of a post-racial future, underpinned by antiracist
values and political commitments to racial equality and multiculturalism, the
reality seems to be that we are some way short from this social transformation.
Indeed, in the contemporary environment, questions about race and racism
remain deeply contested in many societies across the globe and are often the
site of intense controversy and conflict both at the scale of national politics
and in more localised and varied environments (Back and Solomos 2022;
Solomos 2020). Indeed, it seems clear that the questions that we address in
this book are likely to remain at the heart of political debates and ongoing
conversations in civil society over the coming period.
Preface vii

In the British context, this was highlighted by the public furore that accom-
panied the publication in 2021 of the report of the Commission on Race and
Ethnic Disparities (Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities 2021).
Although the Commission concluded that there was no evidence of embed-
ded institutionalised racism in British society a wide range of responses both
by academics and other commentators questioned both the evidence base for
such a conclusion and its policy consequences. The public conversations that
followed the publication of the Commission’s report have once again high-
lighted the need for reasoned and research-based discussion about the role of
race and racism in contemporary British society, and we hope that the publi-
cation of this new edition will contribute to these ongoing conversations. The
response of the Conservative government to these conversations has been to
ignore criticisms and to pursue a strategy that emphasises a strategy to develop
an inclusive Britain while at the same time pursuing an exclusionary approach
to undesirable migrants and refugees (Badenoch 2021; Minister of State for
Equalities 2022). We shall return to these ongoing debates about the future at
several points later in the book as we engage with the evolution of political
and policy agendas.
So, the process of putting this new edition of Race and Racism in Britain
together has been framed in many ways by the need to address both the ques-
tion of how we have arrived at the present situation and to explore avenues for
change and transformation that are being discussed in the present and that
may be possible in the future. Given the live nature of the key areas that it
covers, it is also a book that aims to give readers an insight into the social and
political processes, struggles and controversies, and policy choices that have
shaped both the policy and political agendas of the second half of the twenti-
eth century and initial decades of the twenty-first century. Although there are
some accounts that seek to cover some facets of the issues that we focus on in
this book there is still a need for an account such as this one that seeks to
provide an overarching analysis of the development of public debates and
policies about immigration, race, and racism over the past few decades. Other
accounts have a somewhat narrower focus and do not cover both the range of
issues that we seek to engage with in this book or the detailed explorations of
specific arenas of political and policy debate (Dorling and Tomlinson 2019;
Hampshire 2013; Shilliam 2018).
Writing this Fourth Edition of Race and Racism in Britain has taken some
time, but it has been helped along the way by the collegiality and support of
both students and colleagues in my various academic Departments and wider
academic and institutional networks. First, it is important to acknowledge the
encouragement and support of colleagues at the University of Warwick for
viii Preface

providing me with a supportive environment to work on both the First and


Fourth Editions. I am also grateful to different generations of students at
Warwick, where the First Edition of this book was initially started, Birkbeck,
Southampton, London South Bank, City University, and Warwick again for
engaging with my efforts to teach various courses linked to the contents of
this book. This is a tricky time for universities, and departments of sociology,
and I have been privileged to work with colleagues at all these institutions
who have provided the kind of collegial environment that has given me space
to work on my research alongside teaching and administrative commitments.
I have also been lucky enough to work in universities that have a strong com-
mitment to teaching, research and scholarship and that have given me both
the opportunity to teach interesting students and the intellectual and research
support to work on the ideas that find expression in this book. Colleagues and
students at Warwick have provided me with a vibrant and engaging working
environment during the final stages of working on this edition of the book.
This is also a book that is very much the product of my efforts over the
years to teach courses on the sociology and politics of race and immigration.
The contents of all the editions of this book have been framed by my engage-
ment with various cohorts of students who have challenged me to provide an
overview of the role of race and racism in British society. Many of these stu-
dents have provided me with the opportunity to discuss with them ideas and
issues that I found interesting and have encouraged me by their responses to
follow my curiosity and explore how best to understand the key dimensions
of race and racism in British society as they have evolved and changed over the
past few decades. The various groups of students that have taken my courses
have also helped me understand that it is important to engage the sociological
imagination to make teaching a process of learning and developing more criti-
cal understandings of both the past and the present. Through their varied
responses, they have also reminded me that teaching is very much about
broadening the minds of both students and lecturers and being open to the
idea that sometimes we have to say, ‘I don’t know’, and try to do research,
reflection, and analysis to find out answers to questions that are not fully
understood. This edition is offered in the hope that it will be of interest to
future cohorts of students that are curious about how we have reached the
current state of racial relations in our society, and who wish to explore the
historical and contemporary processes that have helped to shape the present.
Rather than offer you a singular explanation of the evolution of race and rac-
ism in British society, we hope the book gives you some ideas for reflection,
makes you curious to explore some issues further, and provides you with some
tools for critical reflection. This is an interesting time to be studying questions
Preface ix

about racial and ethnic relations in British society and I hope this new edition
provides you with some of the tools that you need in order to make sense of
the contemporary conjuncture and how we have arrived at the current
settlement.
More generally, I would like to acknowledge the support of a wide range of
my network of academic colleagues, including Claire Alexander, Les Back,
Leah Bassel, Alice Bloch, Manuela Bojadzijev, Martin Bulmer, Patricia Hill
Collins, Adrian Favell, Paul Gilroy, Michael Hanchard, Michael Keith, Tony
Kushner, Marco Martiniello, Karim Murji, Yasmeen Narayan, Sarah Neal,
Therese O’Toole, Liza Schuster, Miri Song, and Satnam Virdee. Given the
pressures that exist in academic life, I am grateful to all of them for taking
time to talk to me and more generally to share their ideas about issues covered
in this book. My own teachers at Kennington Secondary Modern in South
London, particularly Mr Patel and Mr Hussey, inspired me to read and
broaden my knowledge and I am forever grateful for that. They guided me to
think about going to university at a time when I knew nothing about higher
education. Their quiet support and belief in me helped to instil in me values
that I hope remain with me today, and it is a regret I never said a proper thank
you to them both.
In addition, I would like to thank my publishers at Palgrave Macmillan,
including Steven Kennedy, Sharla Plant, Liam Inscoe-Jones, and Sarah Hills
for their guidance, patience, and support in preparing this edition. Steven
discussed with me my early ideas for the First Edition and helped me under-
stand the process of writing a book that will engage both students and
informed readers. His wise advice also helped to improve the book at various
stages of its development through the Second and Third Editions. Sharla, Liam,
and Sarah have been very helpful in developing the Fourth Edition and seeing
it through the final stages.
As ever Christine, Nikolas, and Daniel have indulged me many hours
upstairs in the study listening to music and writing. My parents, Kyriacou and
Nikolas, and my grandparents, Cleopatra, Yiannis, Solomos, and Styliani,
experienced a harsher life world than me, but I am grateful for all the love they
showed against the odds. They grew up in an environment I could never even
imagine, but they were always there to support, encourage, and sustain us
through their belief in the value of education. I am forever grateful my parents
made the difficult and brave decision to leave their home and bring us to a
new life, and new opportunities, in the London of the 1960s as economic
migrants. This provided us with opportunities for education and mobility
that we could have not even imagined when we arrived in London to a world
far removed from our small village, Voroklini, in Cyprus.
x Preface

I have been sustained through the writing process by my passion for West
Bromwich Albion and the group of friends from the London Baggies who
have been there when we followed our team up and down the country, and up
and down the Premier League and the Championship. More recently my
walks through my local neighbourhoods in North London have given me the
space to think and rework my ideas. The wonders of Alexandra Palace,
Parkland Walk, Queen’s Wood, Highgate Wood, and Hampstead Heath
helped to push me along in the final stages of working on this book. I should
also mention the wonders of the Spotify algorithm in keeping me supplied
with wonderful music from all over the world for my walks.
In offering this Fourth Edition to the diverse readership that will no doubt
use it, I very much look forward to hearing the responses of both students and
lecturers who use this edition as part of their teaching. The previous three edi-
tions have, I know, from talking to various generations of students and lectur-
ers, been widely used on modules concerned with race relations in British
society. I very much hope that a large proportion of the audience of this edi-
tion will be new generations of students taking courses on the evolving forms
of race and racism in British society. If you would like to share some of your
thoughts about this edition with me, please feel free to let me know what you
think of the book, or specific chapters, and any suggestions you may have
about it more generally.

Coventry, UK John Solomos

References
Back, Les, and Solomos, John, eds. (2022). Theories of Race and Racism: A Reader, 3rf
ed. London: Routledge.
Badenoch, Kemi. (2021). Minister for Equalities’ Speech on the Commission on Race
and Ethnic Disparities’ Report, April 26. https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/
minister-­f or-­e qualities-­s peech-­o n-­t he-­c ommission-­o n-­r ace-­a nd-­e thnic-­
disparities-­report.
Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities. (2021). Commission on Race and Ethnic
Disparities: The Report. London: Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities.
Dorling, Daniel, and Tomlinson, Sally. (2019). Rule Britannia: Brexit and the End of
Empire. London: Biteback Publishing.
Hampshire, James. (2013). The Politics of Immigration: Contradictions of the Liberal
State. Cambridge: Polity.
Preface xi

Minister of State for Equalities. (2022). Inclusive Britain: Government Response to the
Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities. London: HMSO.
Shilliam, Robbie. (2018). Race and the Undeserving Poor: From Abolition to Brexit.
London: Agenda.
Solomos, John, ed. (2020). Routledge International Handbook of Contemporary
Racisms. Abingdon: Routledge.
Contents

1 I ntroduction  1
New Agendas and Perspectives    3
Key Themes and Objectives    6
Broadening the Analytical Frame    7
Thinking About Race in the Present   11
Race and Racism in British Society   14
Outline of the Book   17
References  20

2 Theorising
 Race and Racism 27
Origins of a Research Field   29
Evolving Theories and Perspectives   34
Limitations and Absences   38
Rethinking the Study of Race and Racism   41
Race, Culture, and Identity Politics   43
Theories, Politics, and Social Change   44
References  46

3 Histories
 of Racialisation and Migration 53
Histories of Race and Racialisation   54
Irish Migration and Settlement   56
Jewish Immigration and the Racial Other   59
Race and Racism in the Early Twentieth Century   64
Racial Formations and the Empire at Home   67

xiii
xiv Contents

Englishness, Britishness, and National Identity   69


Histories of the Present   71
References  73

4 Race,
 Immigration, and Citizenship 81
Race, Immigration, and British Society   83
Migration, Colonial Labour, and the State   86
Immigration and Racialised Politics   89
Immigration Controls and State Racism   90
Changing Terms of Political Debate   93
Powellism and the Question of Race   95
Institutionalising Immigration Controls   96
Race and Immigration Under Thatcher and Major   98
Rethinking Race, Immigration, and Citizenship  103
References 103

5 Rethinking
 the Boundaries of Race and Nation109
New Labour, New Policies?  111
Changing Policy Climates and Immigration  118
Brexit and beyond  124
New Dynamics, or Old Problems?  126
Looking Forward  128
References 130

6 Race
 Relations Policies and Social Justice135
Tackling Racial Discrimination  137
Race Relations Legislation  138
From Policy to Practice  141
New Labour and Racial Equality  147
What Kind of Future?  153
References 155

7 Policing
 and Criminal Justice159
Crime, Race, and Policing  160
Policing Minority Communities  163
Mugging, Street Violence, and the State  166
Racialisation and Popular Images  171
Policing and Violent Disorder  173
Racialisation, Crime, and Policing  177
Contents xv

Stephen Lawrence, Macpherson, and Institutional Racism  179


Race and Policing Today  182
References 183

8 Urban
 Unrest, Protest, and Disorder187
Situating Urban Unrest  188
Riots, Urban Unrest, and Disorder in the 1980s  189
Protest and Social Exclusion in 2001  198
Race and Disorder in 2011  201
Urban Unrest in the Present and the Future  207
References 208

9 Nationalism,
 Mobilisation, and Racist Politics211
Race, Nation, and Identity  212
Nationalism Re-made  215
Extreme-Right Configurations of the Nation  217
New Forms of Racist Mobilisation  223
The Naturalisation of Racism  225
Nation, Identity, and the Interests of the Majority  228
Re-imagining the Nation Through Race  229
Changing Forms of Racism  231
References 234

10 Minority
 Politics and Representation237
Modalities of Political Participation  240
Minority Political Mobilisation  242
Changing Patterns of Minority Politics  244
Community-Based Politics  245
Race and Representation  246
Representation in Parliament  248
Antiracist Politics and Political Alliances  251
New Forms of Protest  254
Political Inclusion and Relations of Power  256
References 258

11 Multiculturalism,
 Diversity, and Difference263
Diversity, Race, and Ethnicity  265
Multiculturalism, Diversity, and the Nation  268
Culture, Religion, and Identity  271
Living with Religious and Cultural Difference  272
xvi Contents

Religion, Community Cohesion, and Social Policy  276


Redefining the Boundaries of Belonging  279
References 283

12 R
 ace and Racism Today289
Where Are We? And How Did We Get Here?  292
Dominant Definitions of Race and Social Problems  297
Protest, Reform, and Social Change  301
Conversations About the Future  304
References 310

I ndex317
List of Tables

Table 3.1 Immigration Legislation before 1945 62


Table 4.1 Immigration Legislation: 1962–1996 92
Table 5.1 Immigration legislation 1997–2021 120
Table 6.1 Race Relations Legislation from 1965 140

xvii
1
Introduction

The First Edition of Race and Racism in Britain was published in 1989, and it
was followed by the Second and Third Editions in 1993 and 2003 (Solomos
1989, 1993, 2003). At the time when the First Edition came out, the study of
race, racism, and ethnic relations, in Britain at least, was at a very different
stage of its formation and evolution. Looking back at that period from the
perspective of today it is perhaps surprising that there was a relative dearth of
books that sought to provide an overview of the evolving role of race and rac-
ism in British society. After all, in the period from the 1960s onwards ques-
tions, about race and immigration came to occupy an important role in both
national public policy debates and in the context of local political cultures and
communities. There were some important studies that analysed the changing
political and social debates about race and racism (Layton-Henry and Rich
1986; Miles and Phizacklea 1979; Rex and Tomlinson 1979; Saggar 1991,
1992). But it was noticeable that there were few studies, at the time, that
sought to provide an overview of race and racism in British society for stu-
dents who were taking courses in sociology, politics, and related disciplines in
the social sciences and humanities. While there were books that explored spe-
cific facets of race relations in British society, or specific communities and
their histories and experiences, there were few texts that covered the range of
issues that such courses were addressing. Indeed, there was a noticeable gap in
terms of books that provided an overview of the development of political and
social responses to race, immigration, and racialisation in British society from
the second half of the twentieth century onwards.
It is with this gap in mind that we set out to write this book initially. Our
overarching aim then was to produce a text that analysed both the

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 1


J. Solomos, Race and Racism in Britain, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-11843-2_1
2 J. Solomos

development of the politics of immigration and race relations and the wider
sets of political and policy debates that had emerged through the period from
the second half of the twentieth century onwards. Our first thoughts in devel-
oping the book grew out of our own experience of teaching courses to both
undergraduate and postgraduate students on immigration, race relations, and
specific facets of race and political mobilisation in British society. The core
themes that it covers arose out of this interaction with various groups of stu-
dents over an extended period. It was this process of engaging with various
cohorts of students that highlighted to us the broad areas that needed to be
covered in a book such as this, the specific policy and political arenas that
needed to be explored, and the use of case studies that address specific facets
of the evolving situation in British society. Subsequently the publication of
the Second and Third Editions, in 1993 and 2003, and responses to them,
signalled the continuing need for a book of this kind that sought to engage
students with the analysis of the changing forms of political and civil society
debates about race and racism in British society. All editions of the book have
come to be used on courses that covered the sociological and political context
of race and racism in the context of British society. It has also become evident
that the book has been utilised by students and teachers across a range of dis-
ciplines, both in the social sciences and the humanities.
Although it is now some time since the Third Edition of the book was pub-
lished, we felt that there is still a need for a broad ranging overview of the role
of race and racism in British society and therefore we have decided to produce
this Fourth Edition, with the aim of enhancing the utility of this book for
students who are engaging with courses about race and racism at various
stages of their studies. This is partly because there are still no easily accessible
competitors to the previous edition of this book that can help students engage
with an overarching account of the development of racial relations in British
society through the period from the second half of the twentieth century and
into the present. Little value seems to be placed in the current academic envi-
ronment on writing student facing texts such as this one, since the writing of
theoretical reflections or research focused monographs is prioritised by many
scholars at the cost of anything that can be seen as a textbook. But it is also
because much of the existing work in this broad area remains somewhat nar-
row in focus and we therefore felt that a new edition of this book would be a
valuable addition to the existing scholarship, particularly at a time when there
is increasing interest in the changing dynamics of race, ethnicity, and migra-
tion in contemporary British society.
In developing this edition, we have done several things that we hope will
enhance the value of the book to current students of this ever-changing field
1 Introduction 3

of scholarship and research. First, we have updated all the chapters to reflect
both developments in scholarship and research and the wider social, political,
and cultural transformations that have taken place in the first decades of the
twenty-first century. This has allowed us to include illustrative examples and
themes from the latest scholarship and research. Second, we have also included
both historical and more contemporary illustrative examples to bring out the
key changes that have helped to shape race relations and expressions of racism
in British society, particularly over the past three decades. Finally, we have
added or reframed some chapters to balance the range of issues that are cov-
ered in the book and to provide an insight into emerging issues and debates.
Chapters 5, 9, 11, and 12 add to the substantive issues that are covered by the
book and have allowed us to explore issues that lie at the heart of contempo-
rary scholarly and policy debates.

New Agendas and Perspectives


We have also been able to address more fully than in previous editions issues
such as the historical background and context of racialisation and immigra-
tion, the development of policy agendas about citizenship and immigration,
the interrelationship between race, culture and religion, the role of anti-­
immigrant and extreme-right social movements, changing patterns of racial
inequalities, and the political and civil society debates about issues such as
Brexit and the Windrush Generation over the past decade. In addition, we
have been able to consider new scholarship and research that addresses the
core issues that are covered in this book. We have discussed some other key
facets of social policies on race in areas not covered in this book in a collabora-
tive study with Alice Bloch and Sarah Neal on Race, Multiculture & Social
Policy (Bloch et al. 2013). In that study, we provided detailed discussions of
key arenas of racialised forms of social policy, including housing, health, edu-
cation, and employment, and therefore we have decided not to replicate what
is covered in that volume. You may find it useful at certain points to look
across the two books, since taken together they cover a broader range of policy
arenas and the interventions that have helped to shape the experience of race
and racism in British society over the past few decades.
In a substantive way, therefore, this is essentially a new book, although the
structure of the various chapters remains close to the outline of the previous
edition. Rather than simply add to or revise the content of the previous edi-
tion, we have focused on framing the analysis of the key issues from the per-
spective of the key trends in this field in this early part of the twenty-first
4 J. Solomos

century. In the aftermath of the growth of research in sociology, politics, geog-


raphy, and the social sciences more generally on questions about race, racism,
and immigration, we have seen a growing body of empirical scholarship on
race and ethnic relations and a number of key theoretical texts have been
published, particularly over the past few decades (Emirbayer and Desmond
2015; Lentin 2020; Virdee 2014). There has also been a noticeable expansion
in specialised journals in the field of racial and ethnic studies and this has
resulted in a rapid growth of research-based articles that address key aspects of
contemporary racial situations, including research about various facets of con-
temporary British society. In the past few decades, journals such as Ethnic and
Racial Studies, Ethnicities, and Sociology of Race and Ethnicity have established
themselves by providing a space to publish the research outputs of the grow-
ing number of scholars working on key facets of racial and ethnic relations. In
addition, there has been a noticeable growth in the number of research papers
published on racial and ethnic issues in more mainstream disciplinary and
interdisciplinary journals. This process of expansion in scholarly and research
agendas has been noticeable in both the context of universities in Britain but
also even more so in the context of research and scholarship in the United
States, Canada, Europe and globally (Elias and Feagin 2016; Gallagher 2019;
Golash-Boza 2016). More generally, it is by now clear that the past few
decades have seen a wholesale transformation of the field of racial and ethnic
studies on a global scale, both in terms of new and evolving theoretical para-
digms and substantive bodies of empirical research. This Fourth Edition,
therefore, seeks to analyse the key trends and developments that have helped
to shape contemporary political and social debates about race, immigration,
and race relations in British society by drawing on the important new bodies
of scholarship and research that have emerged over the past few decades. In
addition, although this is not a primary concern of this text as such, the first
two chapters provide a synoptic overview of core theoretical debates and his-
torical processes that have helped to shape the present.
More importantly, perhaps, the public debates on race and racism are rather
different at this point of the twenty-first century than they were during the
period from the 1960s to the 1990s. Perhaps nothing better reflects the cur-
rent phase of public debate in this whole area than the twin preoccupations
we see all over Europe, and indeed more globally, with the policy dilemmas
raised by new patterns of migration, multiculturalism, religious diversity, and
the growing numbers of asylum seekers and refugees. We have seen intense
debate on all these questions, as well as related issues such as racism and right-­
wing political mobilisation, in a variety of societies across Europe as well as in
the Americas, Asia, Australasia, and parts of Africa (Alexander 2018;
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