Anti-Racism in Britain

Is there a 'tradition' of British anti-racism? This volume brings together new, original scholarship to demonstrate that, if there is a meaningful tradition of 'British' anti-racism, it was created by citizens and subjects and it has been shaped by shifting imperial and transnational politics as well as national and local contexts. The volume traces how the history of anti-racism in Britain has been characterised at one end of the spectrum by paternalism and at the other end by solidarity, identifying this paternalistic-solidaristic spectrum as a major axis within British political culture. It examines the anti-racist and anti-imperialist alliances forged during the late nineteenth century, explores how anti-racist action shifted to decolonial state resistance and organising in the embers of empire, and analyses how histories and memories of racism and anti-racism were reframed and expressed at the turn of the millennium. Contributors identify moments of multi-ethnic solidarity between a range of communities and organisations, from trade unions to community 'self-help'. Chapters in this volume also pay attention to how cultural forms play a role in racial formation and anti-racist activism and alliances. Crucially, this volume explores anti-racism as a shifting and ongoing project of resistance with multiple points of geographic, intellectual and political origin and highlights a number of key continuities and fractures in the history of anti-racism in Britain.