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From Institutional Racism to Community Cohesion: The Changing Nature of Racial Discourse in Britain

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  • Andrew Pilkington

Abstract

It is imperative that an appropriate balance is reached between three key principles: equality, diversity and social cohesion. In many countries across the world, however, there is a discernible move away from a concern for equality and diversity as the problem of order looms larger. I shall focus here on Britain in presenting my central thesis that there is a very real danger that a new nationalist discourse centred on community cohesion and integration is trouncing any duties on us to promote racial equality and respect cultural diversity. The paper comprises three sections. I shall firstly identify a radical hour when there was for the first time official recognition that institutional racism existed in British society and some urgency that this needed to be combated. I shall secondly highlight the fragility of such progressiveness and identify threats from the changing nature of racial discourse since 2001. Here, I shall highlight in particular how the prominence given to institutional racism, with the publication of the Macpherson report, was remarkably short lived and how multiculturalism has come under increasing attack, not least because of its purported threat to social cohesion. I shall finally offer some tentative proposals for a more positive way forward.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew Pilkington, 2008. "From Institutional Racism to Community Cohesion: The Changing Nature of Racial Discourse in Britain," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 13(3), pages 78-90, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:socres:v:13:y:2008:i:3:p:78-90
    DOI: 10.5153/sro.1705
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Derek McGhee, 2005. "Patriots of the Future? A Critical Examination of Community Cohesion Strategies in Contemporary Britain," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 10(3), pages 18-32, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Philippe Hamman & Cécile Frank, 2015. "The EU's Racial Equality Directive and the Evolution of Discourse in the Field of the Fight against Discrimination. a Comparison between France, the UK and Spain," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 20(2), pages 71-90, May.
    2. Hannah Bradby, 2010. "Institutional Racism in Mental Health Services: The consequences of compromised conceptualisation," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 15(3), pages 86-96, August.
    3. Chris Allen, 2014. "A Critical Analysis of Britain’s Living, Dead and Zombie Multiculturalism: From 7/7 to the London 2012 Olympic Games," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 4(1), pages 1-16, December.
    4. Alice Pettigrew, 2012. "Confronting the Limits of Antiracist and Multicultural Education: White Students’ Reflections on Identity and Difference in a Multiethnic Secondary School," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 17(3), pages 207-217, August.
    5. James Rhodes, 2009. "Revisiting the 2001 Riots: New Labour and the Rise of ‘Colour Blind Racism’," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 14(5), pages 80-91, November.

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