English historiography on «coloured» immigration to Britain
Представлено огляд досліджень британських та американських учених, присвячених історії «кольорової» імміграції у Велику Британію в повоєнний період. Розглянуто роботи, в яких проаналізовано вплив расового компоненту на формування і здійснення британської імміграційної політики, а також праці, в я...
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| Cite this: | English historiography on «coloured» immigration to Britain / R. Banti // Історичний архів. Наукові студії: Зб. наук. пр. — Миколаїв: ЧДУ ім. Петра Могили, 2012. — Вип. 9. — С. 92-100. — Бібліогр.: 50 назв. — англ. |
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Banti, R. 2014-12-24T17:08:50Z 2014-12-24T17:08:50Z 2012 English historiography on «coloured» immigration to Britain / R. Banti // Історичний архів. Наукові студії: Зб. наук. пр. — Миколаїв: ЧДУ ім. Петра Могили, 2012. — Вип. 9. — С. 92-100. — Бібліогр.: 50 назв. — англ. 1609-7742 https://nasplib.isofts.kiev.ua/handle/123456789/72518 94(410)«1945/1979» Представлено огляд досліджень британських та американських учених, присвячених історії «кольорової» імміграції у Велику Британію в повоєнний період. Розглянуто роботи, в яких проаналізовано вплив расового компоненту на формування і здійснення британської імміграційної політики, а також праці, в яких представлено дискурс про расу і міграцію в їх різнобічних аспектах. Представлен обзор исследований британских и американских ученых, посвященных истории «цветной» иммиграции в Великобританию в послевоенный период. Рассмотрены работы, в которых проанализировано влияние расового компонента на формирование и осуществление британской иммиграционной политики, а также работы, представляющие дискурс о расе и миграции в их разнообразных аспектах. This article presents review of studies of British and American scholars on the history of coloured immigration to Britain in the post-war period. We consider the studies that discuss the impact of the racial component in the formulation and implementation of UK immigration policy, as well as the works representing the discourse about race and migration in their various aspects. en Інститут української археографії та джерелознавства імені М.С. Грушевського НАН України Історичний архів. Наукові студії Джерелознавство. Історіографія. Методологія. Історія історичної науки English historiography on «coloured» immigration to Britain Англомовна історіографія «кольорової» імміграції до Великої Британії Article published earlier |
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| title |
English historiography on «coloured» immigration to Britain |
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English historiography on «coloured» immigration to Britain Banti, R. Джерелознавство. Історіографія. Методологія. Історія історичної науки |
| title_short |
English historiography on «coloured» immigration to Britain |
| title_full |
English historiography on «coloured» immigration to Britain |
| title_fullStr |
English historiography on «coloured» immigration to Britain |
| title_full_unstemmed |
English historiography on «coloured» immigration to Britain |
| title_sort |
english historiography on «coloured» immigration to britain |
| author |
Banti, R. |
| author_facet |
Banti, R. |
| topic |
Джерелознавство. Історіографія. Методологія. Історія історичної науки |
| topic_facet |
Джерелознавство. Історіографія. Методологія. Історія історичної науки |
| publishDate |
2012 |
| language |
English |
| container_title |
Історичний архів. Наукові студії |
| publisher |
Інститут української археографії та джерелознавства імені М.С. Грушевського НАН України |
| format |
Article |
| title_alt |
Англомовна історіографія «кольорової» імміграції до Великої Британії |
| description |
Представлено огляд досліджень британських та американських учених, присвячених
історії «кольорової» імміграції у Велику Британію в повоєнний період. Розглянуто
роботи, в яких проаналізовано вплив расового компоненту на формування і здійснення
британської імміграційної політики, а також праці, в яких представлено дискурс про
расу і міграцію в їх різнобічних аспектах.
Представлен обзор исследований британских и американских ученых, посвященных
истории «цветной» иммиграции в Великобританию в послевоенный период.
Рассмотрены работы, в которых проанализировано влияние расового компонента на
формирование и осуществление британской иммиграционной политики, а также
работы, представляющие дискурс о расе и миграции в их разнообразных аспектах.
This article presents review of studies of British and American scholars on the history of
coloured immigration to Britain in the post-war period. We consider the studies that discuss the
impact of the racial component in the formulation and implementation of UK immigration policy,
as well as the works representing the discourse about race and migration in their various
aspects.
|
| issn |
1609-7742 |
| url |
https://nasplib.isofts.kiev.ua/handle/123456789/72518 |
| citation_txt |
English historiography on «coloured» immigration to Britain / R. Banti // Історичний архів. Наукові студії: Зб. наук. пр. — Миколаїв: ЧДУ ім. Петра Могили, 2012. — Вип. 9. — С. 92-100. — Бібліогр.: 50 назв. — англ. |
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| first_indexed |
2025-11-25T22:45:41Z |
| last_indexed |
2025-11-25T22:45:41Z |
| _version_ |
1850572193736425472 |
| fulltext |
Історичний архів
92
УДК 94(410)«1945/1979»
Rina Banti
ENGLISH HISTORIOGRAPHY
ON «COLOURED» IMMIGRATION TO BRITAIN
Представлено огляд досліджень британських та американських учених, присвячених
історії «кольорової» імміграції у Велику Британію в повоєнний період. Розглянуто
роботи, в яких проаналізовано вплив расового компоненту на формування і здійснення
британської імміграційної політики, а також праці, в яких представлено дискурс про
расу і міграцію в їх різнобічних аспектах.
Ключові слова: Велика Британія, «кольорова» імміграція, міжрасові відносини,
імміграційна політика, дискримінація, громадянство.
Представлен обзор исследований британских и американских ученых, посвященных
истории «цветной» иммиграции в Великобританию в послевоенный период.
Рассмотрены работы, в которых проанализировано влияние расового компонента на
формирование и осуществление британской иммиграционной политики, а также
работы, представляющие дискурс о расе и миграции в их разнообразных аспектах.
Ключевые слова: Великобритания, «цветная» иммиграция, межрасовые отношения,
иммиграционная политика, дискриминация, гражданство.
This article presents review of studies of British and American scholars on the history of
coloured immigration to Britain in the post-war period. We consider the studies that discuss the
impact of the racial component in the formulation and implementation of UK immigration policy,
as well as the works representing the discourse about race and migration in their various
aspects.
Key words: Britain, coloured immigration, race relations, immigration policies, discrimination,
citizenship.
This article deals with modern English
historiography and the research of the
phenomenon of immigration and international
immigration policy, which developed mainly in
the 1980’s and 1990’s. It is about immigration
of citizens of the British colonies to Britain that
came about at the end of the Second World War
and that which continued well into the 80’s of
the twentieth century. In this paper, studies by
British and American researchers will be
assessed. This research deals with analysis of
issues like «race», «race relations» and
«racism». Colour immigration, as it is referred
to in English literature, meaning immigration of
those who were formerly citizens of the British
Commonwealth. These were especially those
people from the Caribbean, from India and
Pakistan. This immigration came about in the
1950’s and 1960’s as a result of recruitment of
workers that the British government initiated at
the end of the Second World War. This was
done in order to improve the financial situation
in Britain at that time. This wave of
immigration is differentiated from others that
Britain had previously known. It was especially
differentiated by the source of the immigrants
who were dark-skinned.
There is no doubt that this influx was an
integral part of the global processes that were
linked to movement of population between
countries in the post-war period. Therefore, in
order to understand the development of the
parameters of the immigration policy made by
British administration regarding the coloured
population in general and to observe the process
of the design of the legislation against
immigration that was founded on a racist base
from a general and encompassing perspective,
the author finds it correct to turn to
historiography research papers that were
devoted to studies of this phenomenon in
various, different ways. In the opinion of the
author, this direction will facilitate a deeper
understanding of the considerations and main
Випуск 9
93
standpoints that prevailed in British
Government circles. These were revealed not
only with their immigration policies, but found
expression also in the definition of British
citizenship that was redefined for the first time
by new legislation which took shape as the
British Nationality Act of 1981. From the time
after the Second World War the Western
countries found themselves having to cope with
streams of immigrants. Following this and
especially after the post-Soviet countries tried
to find legislative solutions to the immigration
issues, and to newly define the nationality
boundaries, Britain’s attempt to control the
situation seems unique and interesting in the
context of wider research into these
phenomena.
The first category of research examines the
immigration phenomenon from the perspective
of an attempt to come close to the answer to the
question that was asked by many researchers of
«How can we return the country to its previous
condition?» In their research on international
immigration, the researchers focused on three
main topics that in the opinion of the author are
supposed to serve as guidelines in the research
of coloured immigration to Britain as well. The
topics are as follows:
1. The function of a sovereign state in the
development of rules of entrance and exit from
that country. Also, how to cause and enable
control and monitoring of immigration and the
factors that limit it;
2. The integration of immigrants into the
host society and the role of the state in this
integration;
3. The influence of the immigration on the
political behaviour of the local citizens as
voters and how this political behaviour
influenced the actions of the immigrants
themselves.
The American political science researcher,
Myron Weiner argues that the international
immigration in the last decade endangers
international stability and security. Weiner
agrees with the views of Arthur Schleizinger,
an American historian and an adviser to the
American president, J. F. Kennedy, who saw
the immigration to USA in the 1990’s and its
multicultural aspects as factors that would bring
about a collapse of society and a fragmentation
of a united America. A study of the root of the
immigration raises the argument that national
states are vulnerable to threat from globalization
that threatens them from without, and from
multi-cultural influences from within [45,
208 р.]. Weiner adds and argues that the threat
of immigration- globalization and multiculturalism
are the causes of intensifying xenophobic and
nationalistic feelings that have been observed of
late in Western democracies. Even the most
developed and industrialized democracies are
endangered by instability because of the great
rush of non-desirable immigrants and large
numbers of refugees [48].
Simon Huntington, an American political
scientist, furthers this approach and foresees
that immigration will cause a threat to national
security [19, p. 28-46]. A researcher of
economics and social policy, George Borjas,
lays down this assumption and alludes to it in
the title of his well-known work, «Friends or
Strangers» [5].
Mass immigration from third world countries
pose a financial threat because it impoverishes
and dilutes the human resources of the society
that absorbs them and changes their social
structure by the marked growth on one hand of
the wealthy that stand at the top of society, and
on the other hand, the disenfranchised that find
their place at the bottom levels. The middle
class is stressed, and its social and financial
efforts are not enough to bolster the capitalist
democracy.
Peter Brimelow in his discussion on
immigration writes the premises that talk of the
threat to security and hints at cultural and racial
influences. He portrays the stream of non-white
immigrants into Western societies as a cultural
threat that could lead to political instability of
liberal democracies [8].
Migration researchers, Anthony Messina,
Aristide Zolberg and Gary Freeman cast doubt
on the argument that immigration endangers the
society that is absorbing this immigration.
Zolberg argues that democratic nations never
lost control of immigration, and that the
researchers exaggerated when they depicted the
severity of the immigration crisis [50, p. 1-15].
A. Messina and G. Freeman pointed out Britain
as a liberal democracy that has managed to have
control over her borders [26, p. 130-154; 10,
p. 297-300]. According to Freeman’s theory,
immigration is a process that obligates the
Історичний архів
94
absorbing country to consider the price they are
paying for this immigration. For him, political
party interests are the unifying factor. The
coalitions that support immigration prevent
liberal democracies from limiting immigration
even if the economic situation demands a more
conservative (policy) [11, p. 881-902].
G. Freeman admits that immigration policy is
largely dependant on ideological and cultural
causes as well as institutional causes. These
causes distort the interests of different groups in
the economy like the worker’s unions, for
example. Therefore, in Freeman’s opinion, one
should differentiate between political standpoints of
professional workers like programmers, engineers,
etc. and the standpoint of workers who are not
professional, (blue collar workers) like builders
and service people. Freeman also notes that
there is another difference between communities
in the United States, Canada and Australia, that
are continuing to expand their immigration
policies, and between countries in Western
Europe, like Britain that until this day have not
managed to overcome the crash that was
brought about by immigrants from what were
previously British colonies and by foreign
workers, but have not yet come to establish a
position about immigration policy. Freeman
advises the Western democratic countries to
formulate a uniform immigration policy [12,
p. 86-109].
An alternative to Freeman’s approach to
immigration policy is put foreword by an
American researcher, James Hollifield [17]. He
studies the state from the combined founding
(ideas) of a group of studies. From his point of
view it is more difficult to explain the results of
immigration policy than it is to explain the
immigration policy itself. In Hollifield’s
opinion, it is possible to study the phenomenon
of immigration as a function of the following
dimensions: 1. economic forces like push-pull,
supply-demand. 2. social network 3. human
rights. The dimension of human rights is the
key to understanding how open or closed a
country is. According to Hollifield’s approach,
immigration policy is determined in government
institutions and laws and therefore it is very
important to focus on the evolution of rights of
immigrants [16, p. 57-90]. However, in
connection with the topic of our study, it is
possible to speak about de-evolution of the
rights of immigrants in Britain. Hollifield’s
approach places a dilemma in the face of liberal
countries. On one hand, the global economy
forces them to be more open to absorbing
immigrants, and on the other hand, the local
political and constitutional powers move the
country in a more conservative direction in
order to protect social obligations they have to
the local population and in order to preserve
civil institutions and sovereignty.
The book «Migration Theory» edited by
James F. Hollifield and Carrilin B. Brettel,
makes a serious contribution. It speaks from a
theoretical and methodological standpoint and
is for everyone who deals with research
questions that are linked to the phenomenon of
immigration in general [7]. The book is a form
of dialogue between disciplinary fields of
knowledge that deal with international
immigration from the point of view of a number
of disciplines like history, demography,
economics, sociology, anthropology, political
science and law.
The second group of research papers, in the
opinion of the writer, is important to the
understanding of the conception that led to
political decisions of British politicians as to the
legislation against coloured immigration that
dealt with the subject of race and race relations.
The attempt to define the relationship between
races and racism caused great difficulty. Their
definition changes constantly, depending on
time and place. New circumstances encourage
new conceptions of the phenomenon. In order to
explain the differences between the races,
historians and social science researchers tend to
use less the biological arguments and use rather
the theories that are based on social, historical
and cultural factors. Modern research literature
that is concerned with race and racism uses the
distinction between the term «racism», and the
term «racialism». «Racism» being the practice
of institutional discrimination in the social
system whose aim is to cause inferiority of the
group being discriminated against. The term
«racialism» refers to discrimination based on
the belief in the inferiority of a certain racial
group because of external attributes.
Preconceived notions of this sort are based, in
fact, on stereotypes and on an outlook that relies
on only partial information, or distorted
information about the group that is being
Випуск 9
95
discriminated against. The resultant expressions
of racism are not uniform in different countries
and they have economic and political
repercussions in different class and cultural
contexts in different societies. Likewise,
expressions of racism are always linked to
economic, political and ideological relations
[29, p. 126-130].
In contemporary English literature that deals
with research of racism and theoretization of
this phenomenon, the researcher Robert Miles
made an attempt to analyze the topic of
«racism» as an historical and cultural
phenomenon from a neo-marxist standpoint.
For this, the term «racialization» was brought
into use and means «those instances where
social relations between people have been
structured by the signification of human
biological characteristics in such a way as to
define and construct differentiated social
collectivities» [29, p. 75]. This process is
correlated with conditions of the migrant work-
force. The influences are a result of «on the one
hand the need of the capitalist world economy
for the mobility of human beings, and on the
other, the drawing of territorial boundaries and
the construction of citizenship as a legal
category which sets boundaries for human
mobility» [28].
A comprehensive book in the field of those
theories that are linked to the issue of race is
«Racial Theories», by Michael Banton, a
British researcher [2]. This book displays
theories that deal with research of racial issues
and the relationship between different racial
groups, in an attempt to define systematically a
reservoir of terms and concepts to describe the
relations between these groups, and with the
goal of clarifying the few conceptual
approaches circulated in the 19
th
century on the
issue of race and race-relations. This book
assists in the understanding of the processes
that take place in the ethnic and social array in
those countries whose population was not
uniform in its ethnicity and to clarify the unique
quality of relations in the social fabric of these
countries.
An interesting perspective on the research of
race relations and racism is brought up in the
study of American researchers Michael Omi,
Howart Winant. They tried to study the process
of construction of reciprocal relations between
government, politics and racism. They argued
that it is incorrect to think that the state is a
merely external cause in the formulation of
race-relations. The opposite is the case. «The
institution of state is racist at its base. In its
stand far from involving itself (or interfering) in
racial disputes, it in itself becomes more and
more prominent in racial conflicts. «Every state
institution is a racial institution, but not every
institution operates in the same way. In fact, the
various state institutions do not serve one
coordinated racial objective; they may work at
cross-purposes. Therefore, race must be
understood as occupying varying degrees of
centrality in different state institutions and at
different historical moments» [32, p. 76-77].
This approach illuminates the field of
relationships between the state institutions and
the immigrants from a different and important
angle of the research on immigration.
Martin Baker’s book, «The New Racism»,
adds a new viewpoint in the research into the
issue of «race» and clarifies the path that the
process of «racialization» took that amplified
and restored the matter in the new conservative
policies of the «New Tories» by the use of
certain terminology and cultural stereotypes and
mentality. This was done by members of
parliament, politicians, the media, and even
judges. Furthermore, this composition greatly
helps in the understanding of the way that the
economic and social problems that arose in the
minority coloured communities in Britain
caused the entire British society to move to the
right on the issue of immigration. These
problems also gave the communities who had
come from the British Commonwealth the
status of a black sheep and this status was used
for the purpose of reaching political ends [3].
The contribution of studies that deal with
research of coloured immigration to Britain
from the British Commonwealth that have been
published up till now, finds expression mainly
in general surveys of the immigration
phenomenon, or by general descriptions of the
development of legislation against this
immigration. Having said this, the existing
research does not adequately address an
integration of the political and ideological
viewpoints and the place and purpose of
national leaders. All these factors have
influence on the process of formulation of
Історичний архів
96
immigration and race policy. The research also
does not clarify adequately the immigration and
race policy in Britain. A short review of
historeographical sources enables, on one hand,
monitoring of historical events that came about
as a result of coloured immigration to Britain at
every stage. An example of this would be
contemplation of the actions of the political
elite of the conservative party, or the actions of
the extremists. On the other hand, this review
aids identification of the roots of conservative
ideology in general, and the understanding of
its continuation in the British political tradition,
and the steps in the development of
immigration and race policy from all its
viewpoints. This in particular in the era of
Margaret Thatcher as her stated goal was to
stem the tide of dark-skinned citizens from the
British Commonwealth into Britain.
In British historiography, the topic of race-
relations merited much attention from many
researchers. The subject was studied by
researchers from a wide and varied range of
disciplines such as sociology, history and law.
The first studies were conducted by sociologists
who researched the way that the first black
immigrants from the Caribbean who were
absorbed in the British cities. The researchers
who based themselves on Marxist and
Webberian theories analyzed the conditions of
the minority communities from the viewpoint
of their integration in the social structure in
general and the working class in particular [19;
37; 30]. The sociological research focused on
the phenomenon of racial discrimination by the
native population that was brought against the
immigrants that affected the finding of housing
and employment, and the cessation of
educational and health services. In addition, the
researchers attempted to explain the ideological
background that was at the base of and cause of
the growth of a discriminatory attitude towards
dark-skinned immigrants by the host population
[1]. In addition there were those researchers
who criticized the direction that the actions of
the local government took, but the emphasis of
their study was that government policy as
regards the relations between communities
should aspire to harmony and less
discrimination [38]. In the 1960’s and almost
all through the 1970’s no serious research was
done on the subject of «coloured» immigration
by British researchers. The main reason for this
dearth of research on the subject of immigration
was the consensus that prevailed during that
period in both political camps, the labor and the
conservative, as far as immigration and race-
relations was concerned. Only the American
researchers refer to the questions as to why and
how the leading British parties managed to
preserve the consensus on immigration that
prevailed in the political system and what was
the place of the subject of immigration and race
in the general elections in that era [21; 41,
p. 46-72]. However, the chronological
framework of those studies ends in the 1970’s.
The researchers began intensive study of
immigration from the Commonwealth to the
British Isles especially in the period from the
1980’s. However, the studies from this period
can be characterized as descriptive and
portrayed only the narrative story of the
chronicles of immigration from the end of the
nineteenth century until the 1980’s. In these
studies, the researchers dealt with a
categorization of the immigrants and the
circumstances that brought them to the United
Kingdom and only in a minor way did they
speak about the politics of the immigration
[47; 18].
British researchers, Jan Spencer and Randall
Hansen indeed describe the process of the
formulation of the British government’s
immigration policy between the years 1939-
1991 in general, and mention the negative
attitude and treatment that the British
governments used towards the immigrants, but
they do not focus on clarifying ideological
views of immigration policy of the
conservatives specifically. His main emphasis is
on the question: how Britain came to be a multi-
racial and multi-cultural society [40; 15]. The
British researcher Peter Fryer continues the line
of research of the researcher Allen in that he
refers to the imperial roots that are at the
foundation of he British Elite’s political stand in
the British Colonies [14]. There is no doubt that
his study aids understanding of the significance
and the place of racism in British policy, but he
also exhibits an historical narrative of black
British citizens in the U.K.
Two British researchers; the sociologist
Robert Miles and the political science
researcher, Ann Phizacklea set out in their work
Випуск 9
97
the Marxist conception. According to this
stance, capital development is bound to motion
of the workforce. In the researchers’ opinion, in
the instance of Britain, the post-war
immigration made the cheap, accessible
workforce of the immigrants into a commodity,
and because of this, in addition to them being of
a different culture and mentality they were not
«worthy», in the eyes of capitalist society, of
humane treatment and being related to as
human beings [31]. Even though in this study
the researchers were busy with the conservative
policy on the subject of immigration and race
and their reference to the subject is partial and
does not include all the points of view that
come up in this body of research. Examples of
these are the tendency to racism in the opinions
of the state leaders at the time of the arrival of
the first immigrants to Britain after the war, and
the continuation of this racial policy all through
the administration of all the British
governments, the influence of ideological
notions of the far right of the conservative
policy, and the influence of the race riots on
British public opinion.
The most important studies of immigration
policy and its place in the ideology of the
leading parties – the Labor Party and the
Conservative Party, that were done by political
science researchers and centered mainly around
political and state activity of those making the
decisions. They do not have in their wide frame
of reference the link to historical viewpoints,
and also lack the attempt to see the process of
the molding of the conservative policy from
additional standpoints like the influence of
public opinion and the role of the media in this
context, the place of state institutions like social
security and health services, the involvement of
the police forces, and the role of the Justice
system.
The first prominent studies that examined
the development of immigration and racial
policy of the British governments in general
and the conservatives in particular as regards
the immigrants from the Commonwealth in the
period after World War II, until the present day
are the studies done by the British historian
Layton Henry [22-24]. His book allows a
chronological monitoring of the development of
British legislation on the subject of the coloured
immigration, and illuminates the important
points in this process like the influence of active
politicians on the formation of immigration
policy of the Labor and Conservative parties,
and on British public opinion, the purpose of
the fascist party, the National Front. Other
points of interest are the increase of violence in
poor districts of British inner cities, and the
changes in British immigration policy in the
context of European immigration policy. On the
other hand, the researcher does not stress the
clear racial bias in British government policy
and does not the link and continuity between
the racist immigration policy of Thatcher’s
government and between the extreme views of
Powell, and the actions of the National Front,
and it seems that the researcher does not have
this on his agenda as a goal.
The researcher Katherine Paul is concerned
with the attempt to define and clearly determine
national British identity based on skin colour
that was made in the event of the disintegration
of the British Empire after 1945. This attempt
did not stem from preconceived racist notions
that were prevalent in the British population and
among its leaders, but rather it stemmed from
preferences and political goals of the political
elite by way of the politicians’ special expertise
in keeping Britain «white» and preventing the
entrance of «coloureds» into the country as far
as possible [33].
The researcher Anthony Messina analyses
the subject using a theoretical approach based
on research of the British two-party political
system that combines within the conception of
the parties the liberality or non-liberality on the
subject of immigration and race [27]. The
discussion in Frank Reeves’ book also focuses
on the political decision making of British
government personnel from all parts of the
ideological spectrum, and is based on the
generalized view of the processes of decision
making in all their intricacy [36].
Another source of literature is a collection of
essays edited by Zig Layton- Henry and Paul
Rich. The attempt by the researchers to portray
racial policy as a big political achievement that
was attained by modern British politics, as done
by way of emphasis of the fact that the art of
managing race policy, (racecraft) of the political
elite is expressed by a continuity of interests of
the ruling party. This goes together with a
search for each one of their special path, and the
Історичний архів
98
laying of boundaries that are as wide as
possible in order to manage it. The analysis is
based on the accepted models in political
science and includes subjects like employment,
education and the relationship of the minorities
with the police [25]. His approach is the same
as that of John Solomos who analyses race
policy and the phenomenon of racism in Britain
as well [44].
Among the political leaders of the Tory
government, with Margaret Thatcher at their
head from 1979-1990, there was an
imperialistic conception and discrimination
expressed towards the coloured population.
Bearing this in mind, it would be correct to
mention the comment of the British researcher
and philosopher Karl Popper about the
importance of intellectual traditions. Popper
argues that members of the elite understand and
interpret every new situation in the light of
intellectual tradition that they have been raised
with. The imperial outlook of the conservative
party stemmed from an intellectual tradition
that consolidated and based itself on a theory of
racism of British researchers from the period of
British colonialization and whose roots went
deep with Britons of subsequent
generations [35].
The studies that clarify the political and
ideological standpoint of Thatcher display the
conservative position in a more general way
and do not focus specifically on the issue of
immigration and race. Among these studies is
the book by a British researcher, Trevor Russell
that should be mentioned. He examines the
political tradition of the conservatives in
general and especially the policy of the new
conservatives under the rule of Margaret
Thatcher [39]. Peter Jenkins’s book examines
the political basis of modern Britain and
explains the success of Thatcher as Prime
Minister of Britain during her nine year term of
office (until 1988) with a retrospective
consideration of the first years after the end of
the war [20]. The book by the researcher Evans
Brendan examines the unique quality of her
political activity [6]. Two other books offer
contributions of great worth to the
understanding of the roots of the political
tradition of Thatcher at the time of her running
for office. One of these is a book written by
Thatcher herself, and the second is a biography
of Thatcher by Hugo Young [42; 49].
We should not underestimate the value of the
use of additional books. Without these, it would
have not been possible to understand the
political and state processes in depth that were
in play in the formulation of the immigration
and race policy of the conservative government
in the Thatcher era. In addition to these
influential processes, there was also the
contribution and influence of the radical powers
on this policy, especially that of the fascist
party, the National Front [43; 9; 46; 13].
In addition to the essays that have been
described earlier, one cannot ignore the studies
on the subject of immigration and race from a
theoretical viewpoint. These works have a
significant weight in the understanding of state,
political and economic processes that came
about in post-war Britain on the backdrop of
coloured immigration and everything that it
implies. Vaughan Bevan’s study, «The
development of British Immigration Law»
illuminates the subject of the entry of dark-
skinned residents to Britain from the point of
view of a lawyer [4]. Many examples of law
applicable to immigrants on a variety of
subjects like their civil and legal rights, their
rights to health care, their possibilities of
employment etc. makes it possible to follow the
convoluted path of the discussion about
immigration as it was expressed in the law.
According to the researcher, understanding
British legislation about «coloured entrants»
and the way the immigration policy was
managed needs to be done from within an
historical perspective. He notes that it is no
wonder that there were discriminatory attitudes
and expression of preconceived notions by the
British nation towards the dark-skinned citizens
as this nation had been responsible for the slave
trade and imperial rule the world over.
It should be noted that there has not been a
study done that specifically followed the steps
in the development of the conservative policy
on the issue of immigration and race. Therefore,
the attempt to make an adequate study to find
the points that link between the ideological
conceptions of the Labor party and the
Conservative party and to prove the fact that the
policy of immigration and race in the Thatcher
era was actually a continuation of the British
Випуск 9
99
imperialistic conception that held a clear
discrimination character. This perspective
appears justified in the study of coloured
immigration to Britain.
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РЕЦЕНЗЕНТИ: Машевський О. П., д.і.н., професор Київського національного університету ім. Тараса
Шевченка;
Сінкевич Є. Г., д.і.н., професор Чорноморського державного університету ім. Петра Могили.
© Rina Banti, 2012 Дата надходження статті до редколегії 01.03.2012 р.
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