Race & Immigration in the UK

Historically, in the British imagination, the concept of race had been tied to the colonial project and the racial ‘other’ located in the colonies. In 1945, as the Empire began to crumble and colonial immigration to Britain began on a mass scale the relationship with, and thus concept and construction of, the racial ‘other’ changed dramatically. We will focus on the key moments in immigration into Britain from 1945 to the present day and examine how immigration policy has changed over the years. What are the main changes that have taken place and what are the political reasons underpinning them? What impact does immigration policy have on popular reactions to immigration and what role is played by the media, for example, in shaping them? What relationship is there between immigration in the UK and globally? What are the differences between so-called ‘economic’ and ‘forced’ migration? What are the main problems facing immigrants to the UK today? How have attitudes and policies on migration changed since the coming to power of New Labour in 1997? We shall focus in particular on two processes - the rolling back of asylum provisions and the rise of policies of managed migration.