New Right, New Racism: Race and Reaction in the United States and Britain

361 Pages·1997·35.17 MB·English

by  Amy Elizabeth Ansell (auth.)

NEW RIGHT, NEW RACISM
Also by Amy Elizabeth Ansell
UNRAVELING THE RIGHT: The New Conservatism in American Thought
and Politics (editor)
New Right, New RacislIl
Race and Reaction in the United States
and Britain
Amy Elizabeth Ansell
Assistant Professor of Sociology
Director ofI nternational Programs
Bard College
Annandale-on-Hudson
New York
© Amy Elizabeth Ansell 1997
Softcover reprint of the hardcover lst edition 1997
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of
this publication may be made without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or
transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with
the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988,
or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying
issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court
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Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this
publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil
claims for damages.
The author has asserted her right to be identified
as the author of this work in accordance with the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published 1997 by
MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS
and London
Companies and representatives
throughout the world
ISBN 978-1-349-13929-3 ISBN 978-1-349-13927-9 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-13927-9
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library.
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and
made from fully managed and sustained forest sources.
10 9 8 7 6 5 432 I
06 05 04 03 02 01 00 99 98 97
To my parents, Burton and Marjory Ansell
Contents
Acknowledgements IX
Introduction: The New Right - Storm-Troopers in
the Name of Liberty 1
The New Right ascendancy 5
Race and the Right turn 9
Anew racism 19
The structure of this book 23
1 Race and the Right Turn: The Symbolic Conflict
Approach 25
Is there a 'New Right'? 27
Organizations and currents 29
Symbolic conflict and the New Right 33
Competing conceptual approaches: a dialogue 39
2 The New Right Racial Backlash: A New Racism 49
The context of reaction 49
New forms of racial discourse 58
A new racism? 67
3 The New Right in the United States: Color-Blind
Discourse and the Politics of Reverse Racism 74
Organizations and currents 76
The new racism: key categories of meaning 103
Color-blindness 104
Equality 108
Individualism 113
Enemies of the 'American way of life' 120
'Reverse racism' 130
VII
Vlll Contents
4 The British New Right: A Discourse of Culture,
Nation, and Race 142
The British New Right organizational nexus 145
The new racism: key categories of meaning 164
Human nature 165
The 'British way oflife' 168
The enemy within 173
The new class enemy 176
Anti-anti-racism 181
5 The New Right and the Racial State 191
The new racism and the politics of Reaganism 193
Mfiirmative action 195
The assault upon the civil rights establishment 200
Education 217
Welfare 221
The new racism and the politics of Thatcherism 232
Immigration 233
Land and order 243
Race relations 249
Education 255
Conclusion: Challenging the New Racism; Combating
the New Right 263
Notes 274
Bibliography 313
Index 339
Acknowledgemen ts
This book represents the end of the beginning of a long
journey through different institutional, intellectual and per
sonal terrains. It is my pleasure to acknowledge the many col
leagues and friends who have helped make the trip possible.
It was at the University of Michigan that I first stumbled on
to the terrain of the politicized. Buzz Alexander and a street
theater troop called 'The Pinkertons' introduced me to the
possibilities inherent in uniting creativity and playfulness with
political commitment and activity. Carl Cohen (ironically, or
perhaps not so ironically, a character in this book) nurtured
my search for intellectual rigor and honesty. A Eugene Power
Exchange Scholarship provided me the opportunity to pursue
two years of graduate study at the University of Cambridge,
England.
During my years studying in the Faculty of Social and
Political Sciences at Cambridge, I benefited greatly through
contact with Professors and lecturers (especially Anthony
Giddens, John Thompson, Graham McCann, John Barber
and Paul Ginsberg), as well as my peers (Carla Willig,
Movindri Reddy and Mike Pace, amongst others). Generous
support from the Cambridge Board of Graduate Studies, the
Commonwealth Trust, the Overseas Research Scholarship
and New Hall enabled me to pursue doctoral studies - of
which this book is a product - under the useful guidance and
thoughtful direction of my supervisor, Dr Gerard Evans. A
fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the
Humanities enabled me to complete field work on the US
front, while a Visiting Scholar appointment at New Hall,
Cambridge, supported me in the completion of field work in
Britain.
I would especially like to thank the efforts of numerous
people and organizations with whom I came into contact
during the course of field work, most importantly: Chip
Berlet,Jean Hardisty and the late Margaret Quigly at Political
Research Associates in Cambridge, Mass.; and Paul Gordon,
Kenneth Leech, Paul Coleman, and Kaushika Amin at the
IX
x Acknowledgements
Runnymede Trust, London. I also would like to acknowledge
the library staff at the State Historical Society of Wisconsin at
Madison; the staff at the Institute of Race Relations, London;
and Carol Keys and her library staff at People for the American
Way in Washington, DC. Adam Meyerson at the Heritage
Foundation and Gerald Hartog at the Freedom Association
were particularly helpful and generous with their time. For this
and later stages of the project, lowe a particular debt of grati
tude to Murry Edelman, Professor Emeritus of Political Science
at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, whose lifelong work
has provided a source of inspiration for my own. I value him as
a good friend as much as a teacher.
The experience of teaching sociology and directing interna
tional programs at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson,
New York, and in particular the free-thinking student body and
the intellectual excellence of the faculty, has contributed
greatly to the fine-tuning of my ideas. Also important in this
regard is a much-valued network of professional colleagues
that includes (in addition to the above): Sanjib Baruah, Ric
Brown, Ron Cox, Sara Diamond, Michele Dominy, the late
Ernest Gellner, Chip Gallagher, Susan Gillespie, Pete Green,
Allen Hunter,Jon Kahn, Walda Katz-Fishman, Matthew Lyons,
Nancy MacLean, Ellen Messer-Davidow, Robert Miles, Michael
Omi, Laurie Patton, Gillian Peele, Gennady Shkliarevsky, Anna
Marie Smith, Stephen Steinberg, Suzanne Vromen, Sarah
Willie, Howie Winant, Ann Withorn, and Richard Wolff.
Whether they realized it or not, each in their own way pushed
me ahead on the learning curve through their own intellectual
or other engagements; some read and commented on parts of
the manuscript. Carla Willig, a long-time friend as well as
transatlantic colleague, has been an important influence on
the honing of my ideas from start to finish. A special word of
thanks is due to Stephen Small, who provided me with invalu
able feedback on the entire manuscript at different stages of its
incarnation.
Timothy Barlett, my editor, of New York University Press,
worked with me throughout the final stages of completion and
offered sober and incisive guidance. Credit is also due to
Annabelle Buckley and Keith Povey, at Macmillan, for guiding
me through the final stages of manuscript preparation and for
their general professional excellence.