How racist is society today? How have the patterns of discrimination and disadvantage changed over the past 20 years? This text explores the nature and extent of racial discrimination, and the successes and failures of equal opportunities programmes. Incisive analyses focus upon the operation of institutional racism in immigration law, housing, social work, employment, training and the criminal justice system. They explore changes over time and examine the interwoven strands of `race', class and gender that form the pattern of disadvantage. This provides a context for a critical discussion of the formulation, implementation and outcomes of equal opportunities policies in the local state and the private sector. The authors investigate both `liberal' and `radical' approaches to equal opportunities in the area of `race'. They analyze the political and ideological contentions that influence the ways in which issues are defined and support is mobilized. They also highlight the shortcomings of current legislation.
Peter Braham lectured in sociology at the Open University for many years. He made major contributions to a number of Open University courses: Patterns of Inequality; Ethnic Minorities and Community Relations; Mass Communication and Society; An Introduction to Sociology; 'Race', Education and Society; Understanding Modern Societies; Implementing New Technologies; An Introduction to Information Technology; Culture, Media and Identities; Studying Family and Community History: 19th and 20th Centuries; and Sociology and Society. He co-edited Discrimination and Disadvantage in Employment: the Experience of Black Workers [1981]; Media, Knowledge and Power [1986]; Racism and Antiracism [1992]; Political and Economic Forms of Modernity [1992]; Social Differences and Divisions [2002]; Dictionary of Race, Ethnicity and Culture [2003]. His main research interests have been in migration and settlement, child immigration and family reunification, and he has been the UK partner on several international research projects in these areas.
General Introduction PART ONE: RACISM: THE POLITICS OF EXCLUSION The Politics of Immigration Since 1945 - John Solomos The British Trade Union Movement and Racism - Annie Phizacklea and Robert Miles `Same Difference' - Colin Brown The Persistence of Racial Disadvantage in the British Employment Market Women of South Asian Origin in Britain - Avtar Brah issues and concerns Black Women and the British State - Amina Mama Race, Class and Gender Analysis for the 1990s PART TWO: INSTITUTIONAL RACISM Racism and Housing - Norman Ginsburg Concepts and Reality New Vocationalism, Old Racism and the Careers Service - John Wrench Black Workers in the Labour Market - Richard Jenkins An Uncaring Profession? An Examination of Racism in Social Work - Lena Dominelli Black People and the Criminal Law - Paul Gordon Rhetoric and Reality PART THREE: RACISM AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITY POLICY A Political Analysis of Local Struggles for Racial Equality - G Ben-Tovim et al The Theory and Practice of Equal Opportunities Policies - Nick Jewson and David Mason Liberal and Radical Approaches Equal Opportunities Policy and Race Equality - Peter Gibbon Approaches to Policy Development in the Field of Equal Opportunities - Ken Young Race Equality and the Limits of Law - L Lustgarten and J Edwards
`A sensitive and reflective account of the social disadvantage of racialised minorities and how change in Britain is relatively slow to come about in this area... a good synthesis of the many strands which constitute dimensions of racism and anti-racism and policies towards them. Particularly good use is made of concrete examples of disadvantage experienced by black and Asian women, especially the elderly, and their vulnerability is highlighted in considerable detail... a good source book. It updates a range of issues relating to racism and the experience of ethnic minorities in Britain' - British Educational Research Journal
