Routledge Revivals: Patriotism: the Making and Unmaking of British National Identity (1989)


Book Description

First published in 1989, this is the second of three volumes exploring the changing notions of patriotism in British life from the thirteenth century to the late twentieth century and constitutes an attempt to come to terms with the power of the national idea through a historically informed critique. This volume examines how national identity has competed with alternative, more personal forms of belonging -- such as Roman Catholicism, Judaism and Nonconformism -- as well looking at femininity in relation to the state. Contemporary British society's capacity to create outsiders is discussed and the introductory essay shows how this may shape our misunderstanding of earlier phases of national development.




Political Languages of Race and the Politics of Exclusion


Book Description

First published in 1999, Political Languages of Race and the Politics of Exclusion examines the post-race signification logic of languages used to promote and achieve the exclusion and stigmatisation of migrant groups within post-war Britain. Re-examining the time of Smethwick and Powellism, as well as extensive Parliamentary debates, this book develops an original thesis to show how Backbench racism became legitimated as Frontbench commons’ sense. The book argues that the achievement of the success of post-war Parliamentary racism has been made possible by the development of a ubiquitously anecdotal narrative of the travails of the ‘Forgotten Englishman’ awoken to a multi-cultural nightmare in Britain’s decaying inner cities. While the concept of ‘race’ has remained under erasure, the logic of post-race signification discourse has allowed the re-making of racism in public Britain.




The clamour of nationalism


Book Description

Nationalism has reasserted itself today as the political force of our times, remaking European politics wherever one looks. Britain is no exception, and in the midst of Brexit, it has even become a vanguard of nationalism’s confident return to the mainstream. Intellectual attempts to account for nationalism’s resurgence have however floundered. Desperately trying to read nationalism through one overarching cause – as capitalist crisis, as cultural backlash, or as social media led anti-Establishment politics – these accounts have proven woefully inadequate. This book argues that the only way to understand nationalism is through nationalism itself. To understand it as the key force of modernity that calls upon all existing ideological traditions in asserting its appeal: whether it is liberal, conservative, neoliberal or left-wing. This ideological clamour that characterises today’s British nationalism requires both recognition and theorisation. A meaningful understanding of new nationalism must reckon with the ideological range animating it and the deeply hostile aversion to different racial minorities that pervades its respective ideologies. Drawing on a variety of cultural and political themes – ranging from Corbyn’s dithering, the cult of Churchillism, the neoliberal fixation with a ‘point-system’ immigration policy, the muscular secularism of Richard Dawkins and friends, fears that the white working class have ‘become black’, and even simply the strange appeal of Harry Potter and Game of Thrones – this book provides a dazzling but always detailed study of how nationalism is the politics of today only because it is a politics of everything.




Racism, Nationalism and Citizenship


Book Description

First published in 1998, this book is about the consequences of the permanent settlement of former labour migrants in contemporary Germany and Britain and the extent to which these ‘new’ minorities are regarded as citizens in both societies as well as citizens of the European Union. It is argued that a socio-historical link between processes of racialization and nationalism lead to an exclusionary concept of citizenship in both countries. This link is concretized by the intermingling of nationality and citizenship as reflected in law and/or in the perception by civil society. Thus, the concept of citizenship can only function as a mechanism for inclusion of ethnic minorities if de-linked from nationality (i.e. ethnic descent). In addition, recent supra- and sub-national development on the EU level lead to the suggestion of a three-layered conception of citizenship (i.e. local, national, European), and it is argued that the local level is probably the most effective to resist the power of racism and nationalism.




Introduction To Race Relations


Book Description

This is the second edition of the textbook on race and ethnic relations, which has been adopted by academic and vocational courses and which is designed to be a straightforward introduction to this field of study. It retains all the original features, but reflects on events over the years since its original publication, incorporating accounts of developments in the UK and USA. Suggestions for further readings are revised in the light of the latest research.




Routledge Revivals: Patriotism: The Making and Unmaking of British National Identity (1989)


Book Description

First published in 1989, this is the first of three volumes exploring the changing notions of patriotism in British life from the thirteenth century to the late twentieth century and constitutes an attempt to come to terms with the power of the national idea through a historically informed critique. This volume deals with the role of politics, history, religion, imperialism and race in the formation of English nationalism. In chapters dealing with a wide range of topics, the contributors demystify the prevailing conceptions of nationalism, suggesting ‘the nation’ has always been a contested idea, and only one of a number of competing images of collectivity.




Race, Ethnicity and Social Theory


Book Description

Race, Ethnicity and Social Theory provides a critical analysis of the main areas of scholarly research and debate about racial and ethnic relations over the past few decades. The book covers substantive areas of scholarly debate in this fast-changing field, including race and social relations, identities and the construction of the racial other, feminism and race, the relationship between race and nationalism, antisemitism, the evolution of new forms of racism, race and political representation and, more generally, the changing debates about race and ethnicity in our global environment. The book argues that there is a need for more dialogue across national and conceptual boundaries about how to develop the theoretical tools needed to understand both the historical roots of contemporary forms of racialised social and political relations and the contemporary forms through which race is made and re-made. A key argument that runs through the book is the need to develop conceptual frameworks that can help us to make sense of the changing forms of racial and ethnic relations in contemporary societies. This means developing more dialogue across national research cultures as well as empirical research that seeks to engage with the key issues raised by contemporary theoretical debates. The book will be of interest to both students wanting to develop a deeper understanding of this area of scholarship and to researchers of race, ethnicity and migration working in various national and disciplinary environments.




The Oxford Handbook of the British Musical


Book Description

The Oxford Handbook of the British Musical provides a comprehensive academic survey of British musical theatre offering both a historical account of the musical's development from 1728 and a range of in-depth critical analyses of the unique forms and features of British musicals, which explore the aesthetic values and sociocultural meanings of a tradition that initially gave rise to the American musical and later challenged its modern pre-eminence. After a consideration of how John Gay's The Beggar's Opera (1728) created a prototype for eighteenth-century ballad opera, the book focuses on the use of song in early nineteenth century theatre, followed by a sociocultural analysis of the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan; it then examines Edwardian and interwar musical comedies and revues as well as the impact of Rodgers and Hammerstein on the West End, before analysing the new forms of the postwar British musical from The Boy Friend (1953) to Oliver! (1960). One section of the book examines the contributions of key twentieth century figures including Noel Coward, Ivor Novello, Tim Rice, Andrew Lloyd Webber, director Joan Littlewood and producer Cameron Macintosh, while a number of essays discuss both mainstream and alternative musicals of the 1960s and 1970s and the influence of the pop industry on the creation of concept recordings such as Jesus Christ Superstar (1970) and Les Misérables (1980). There is a consideration of "jukebox" musicals such as Mamma Mia! (1999), while essays on overtly political shows such as Billy Elliot (2005) are complemented by those on experimental musicals like Jerry Springer: the Opera (2003) and London Road (2011) and on the burgeoning of Black and Asian British musicals in both the West End and subsidized venues. The Oxford Handbook of the British Musical demonstrates not only the unique qualities of British musical theatre but also the vitality and variety of British musicals today.




Majorities, Minorities, and the Future of Nationhood


Book Description

The design of democratic institutions includes a variety of barriers to protect against the tyranny of the majority, including international human rights, cultural minority rights, and multiculturalism. In the twenty-first century, majorities have re-asserted themselves, sometimes reasonably, referring to social cohesion and national identity, at other times in the form of populist movements challenging core foundations of liberal democracy. This volume intervenes in this debate by examining the legitimacy of conflicting majority and minority claims. Are majorities a legal concept, holding rights and subject to limitations? How can we define a sense of nationhood that brings groups together rather than tears them apart? In this volume, world-leading experts are brought together for the first time to debate the rights of both majorities and minorities. The outcome is a fascinating exchange on one of the greatest challenges facing liberal democracies today.