Race politics : perceptions of race and racism and its impact on rights of citizenship in contemporary Britain

157 Pages·2011·0.593 MB·English

by  Nicole Danielle Truesdell

RACE POLITICS: PERCEPTIONS OF RACE AND RACISM AND ITS IMPACT ON
RIGHTS OF CITIZENSHIP IN CONTEMPORARY BRITAIN
By
Nicole Danielle Truesdell

A DISSERTATION
Submitted to
Michigan State University
In partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
ANTHROPOLOGY
2011
ABSTRACT
RACE POLITICS: PERCEPTIONS OF RACE AND RACISM AND ITS IMPACT ON
RIGHTS OF CITIZENSHIP IN CONTEMPORARY BRITAIN
By
Nicole Danielle Truesdell

Race is a political tool used by nation-states to make and deny claims to rights of citizenship for
those who are racialized within that nation. In this dissertation I examine the relationship
between race, nation and citizenship in contemporary Britain. Specifically, I explore the ways
racial ideologies within the UK are internalized, reproduced, employed, and resisted by
racialized actors as they exercise their civil, political and social rights of citizenship. This
dissertation addresses three questions: How do racialized actors in Britain take part in
constructing and accessing their rights of citizenship within civil society? What is the nature of
British racialized citizenship that is made available to individuals and organisations that
represent racial and ethnic communities? What are the narratives used by individuals, Black and
Minority Ethnic (BME) groups and the state to negotiate issues of race and racism within the
boundaries of citizenship?
I reviewed British immigration legislation and social policies directed at BME
communities since 1945; conducted participant observations within a regional BME organization
based in Bristol, England; and conducted one-on-one interviews with British citizenship living in
England to answer my research questions. I develop a theory of “racialized citizenship” that
utilizes Antonio Gramsci’s concepts of hegemony, counterhegemonic resistance and
contradictory consciousness within the realm of civil society, coupled with British sociologist
T.H. Marshall’s three-part classification of citizenship as civil, political and social alongside Du
Bois’ notion of “double consciousness.”
Increased non-white immigration post-1945 into Britain led the British government to
redefine Britishness in terms of “whiteness.” This active racialized re-creation of British
national identity constantly questioned the legitimacy of non-white communities. I argue that
access for racial and ethnic minorities to rights of citizenship is always through a racialized lens
that is both limited in nature and predefined/predetermined by the state, or what I call “racialized
citizenship.” Obtaining full rights of citizenship for racial and ethnic minority individuals is
difficult due to the hegemonic constructions of race that are both produced by the British state
and reproduced within BME organizations. Racialized citizenship requires agents to use race as
a political platform to seek their rights as citizens. However, the contradictory nature of race
allows for its contestation by racialized actors within the realm of civil society.
For racialized actors resistance occurs through the questioning of larger racial narratives
that limit these organizations abilities to conduct the work they feel needs to be done for their
communities through a subjugated position within society. This is seen in the strategies
employed by BME leaders to raise awareness of their communities needs. Resistance also
occurs in the ways BME organizations interpret mainstream funders aims and goals for money
awarded. This is observed in the activism styles employed by BME members to access their
rights. Finally, resistance occurs in the challenging ways everyday citizens questioned and
reinterpreted racial classifications and discourse. But, resistance is slow and ongoing and there
is always the risk of reproducing hegemonic constructs when mounting a resistance – the
reproductions of “BME as disadvantaged” by the BME sector and the construction of race as
biological by everyday citizens are just two examples. However, if we allow for the possibility
of resistance to occur then there is a possibility that a new hegemony will emerge.
Copyright by
NICOLE DANIELLE TRUESDELL
2011
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to take the time to acknowledge the following people who helped to support
me along this long journey. First and foremost I have to thank my committee for guiding me in
the right directions during the PhD process. Dr. Stewart and Dr. Sauer helped me with historical
and methodological issues. Dr. Howard graciously came onto my committee and helped
formulate my theoretical framework. I truly appreciate the help from Dr. John Davis during my
time at MSU in both my professional and personal development. I especially want to thank Dr.
Linda Hunt for her never-ending support in all aspects of my PhD career. Without her belief in
my abilities I would not have been able to finish this degree.
Personally I want give tremendous thanks to my mother and father. Without their
strength and support I would not have continued on. I lost my father, my best friend, at the end
of my first year at MSU. So, I dedicate this dissertation to his memory because he always
believed in me, no matter how many schools I kept attending. I also have to thank my partner
Michael Longlois for his undying support, through ups and downs. He uprooted his life in the
US and moved to the UK while I completed my fieldwork and write-up and for that I am utterly
grateful. In no particular order I also need to thank Felicia Madimenos, Zoe Morris, Samantha
Moy, Meghan Sullivan, Agatha Marin, Ally Snell, Celeste Ramos-Larsen, and Amanda
Abramson for being there for me over the years through many phone calls and late night coffee
shop sessions. I appreciate the unwavering help.
I want to say a warm thank you to everyone who participated in this research.
Specifically I need to thank the Department of Families and Social Capital at London Southbank
University for the support of my research. Dr. Rosland Edwards and Dr. Chamion Cabellero
sponsored by visa and without their belief in my research I would not have been able to reside in

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the UK for the time I did. Also to Dr. Harry Goulbourne for helping looking at various drafts of
my chapter 3. I also need to thank all the staff at the Bristol Black and Ethnic Minority
Organization where I conducted my fieldwork and everyone who participated in my interviews.
Finally, I need to acknowledge the numerous funding bodies that allowed me to conduct
this research: the MSU Pre-Dissertation Fellowship, the National Science Foundation Doctoral
Dissertation Fellowship, and the MSU Dissertation Completion Fellowship.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF TABLES....................................................................................................................................................ix

KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS................................................................................................................................x

INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................................................1

GENERAL OVERVIEW....................................................................................................................................1

Outline of Dissertation.............................................................................................................4

CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS OF RACE...........................................................7

INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................................7

RACE AND RACIAL WORLDVIEWS.......................................................................................................8

Modern Beginnings...............................................................................................................11

The Nation State, Race and Blood.........................................................................................17

RACIAL HEGEMONIES AND CIVIL SOCIETY................................................................................20

Racialized Citizenship...........................................................................................................25

CONCLUSION...................................................................................................................................................30

CHAPTER 2: LOCALIZING RACE AND CITIZENSHIP IN BRITAIN: SETTINGS AND
METHODS................................................................................................................................................................33

THE “THICK DESCRIPTION”....................................................................................................................33

Bristol....................................................................................................................................34

The Bristol Black and Ethnic Minority Organization (BBMEO)..........................................37

METHODOLOGY.............................................................................................................................................41

Literature Review..................................................................................................................42

Interviews...............................................................................................................................42

Observations..........................................................................................................................44

Data Analysis.........................................................................................................................46

CHAPTER 3: CIVIL CITIZENSHIP IN POST-IMPERIAL BRITAIN: IMMIGRATION, RACE
AND THE LAW......................................................................................................................................................48

BRITISH CITIZENSHIP AND NATIONAL IDENTITY...................................................................49

1945-1962: The Arrival of the “Dark Strangers”..................................................................51

The 1960s: “A River of Blood”.............................................................................................53

Race Relations Acts and Racial and Ethnic Mobilization.....................................................56

1980 to 1997- Thatcherism, Race, and the BME...................................................................60

New Labour: From Multiculturalism to Community Cohesion............................................63

CONCLUSION...................................................................................................................................................68

CHAPTER 4: POLITICAL CITIZENSHIP: NARRATIVE OF SOCIAL EXCLUSION.............70

NARRATIVE OF “SOCIAL EXCLUSION”...........................................................................................71

Race As An Identity...............................................................................................................72

From Multiculturalism to Community Cohesion..................................................................77

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NARRATIVE OF “BME AS DISADVANTAGE”................................................................................85

Stories of Racism...................................................................................................................85

The Power of Labels: Issues of Capacity as BME.................................................................90

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................93

CHAPTER 5: SOCIAL CITIZENSHIP: FUNDING, CAPACITY AND THE “COMMON
SENSE” OF RACE.................................................................................................................................................98

BBMEO and The Third Sector............................................................................................101

DIGITAL INCLUSION.................................................................................................................................106

Smarter Government: The Digital Citizen...........................................................................108

Opportunistic Activism Meets Pragmatic Activism............................................................110

“COMMON SENSE” NOTIONS OF CITIZENSHIP AND RACE..............................................118

The Doubleness of Race and Nation....................................................................................118

Race-as-Biological/Race-as–Social/Race-as-Culture..........................................................123

DISCUSSION...................................................................................................................................................125

CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION.........................................................................................................................129

THE POSSIBILITY OF COUNTERHEGEMONIC RESISTANCE............................................129

BIBLIOGRAPHY................................................................................................................................................138

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1......................................................................................................................................43

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KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS

ACAB African and Caribbean Association of Bristol
BBMEO Bristol Black and Minority Ethnic Organization
BCVS Black Community and Voluntary Sector
BME Black and Minority Ethnic
CRE Commission for Racial Equality
NACCI National Advisory Committee for Commonwealth Immigrants
RRA Race Relations Act
VCO Voluntary and Community Organizations
VCS Voluntary and Community Sector

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