Harry Goulbourne's theme is how post-imperial Britain has come to define the national community in terms of ethnic affinity, instead of a traditional multi-ethnic/multi-racial understanding of the nation. He argues that the continuing 'reception-experience' of non-white groups in post-war Britain not only arose out of an ethnic perception of the British nation by the indigenous population, as expressed through state action, but has also, in turn, encouraged an equally ethnic awakening or mobilisation among non-white minorities. The result is a failure to construct a common national ground or sense of community by all those claiming a formal British identity. Goulbourne draws upon a diverse literature, including race relations, politics and history. His two case studies of the Khalistan question in the Punjab and democracy in Guyana are examples of how exilic politics may affect Britain's ethnic minorities, partly as a result of the experience of exclusion from British society.

This book, first published in 1983, examines why people prefer to talk about immigrants or ethnic minorities when they are referring to differences marked not by the migratory process of ethnicity, but by skin colour. How, without mentioning racial criteria, have politicians managed to introduce immigration controls deliberately aimed at reducing the number of black migrants? This book identifies a central feature of British political life: the ability to justify racially discriminatory behaviour without recourse to explicit racist language. It gives an account of British racial ideology as it is practically experienced in the form of political discourse and helps to provide a theoretical understanding of its relationship to the social structure as a whole and in particular its relationship to inter- and intra-class divisions. The author argues that traditional class-based ideologies are perfectly capable of supporting racially oppressive institutions and have far better 'protective' properties than expressions of overt racism. As a result, the objective structures of British race relations are obscured by a facade of 'deracialised ideology'.

This book, first published in 1985, presents a comprehensive analysis of immigration policy in Europe. Six representative countries are looked at in detail: Sweden, Holland, Britain, France, West Germany and Switzerland. All have experienced large-scale postwar immigration and exemplify different policy responses: the 'guestworker' system in Germany and Switzerland; policies aiming at permanent settlement in Britain and Sweden; intermediate policies in France and Holland. Britain, France and Holland are also countries where there has been substantial immigration from ex-colonies. The book looks at the size and composition of immigration to each country, its history, the economic and social background to immigration, its regulation and policy measures and their effects on immigrants. The second part of the book provides a comparative analysis of the different immigration policies and the reasons for them; changes in immigration policy; the different forms of regulation and control, housing, education, and social welfare provisions.

This book brings together internationally known scholars from a wide range of disciplines and theoretical traditions, all of whom have made significant contributions to the field of race and ethnic relations. As well as identifying important and persistent points of controversy, the collection reveals a complementary and multifaceted approach to theorisation. The theories represented include contributions from the perspective of sociology. These range from the established perspectives of Marx and Weber through to the more recent interventions of rational choice theory, symbolic interactionism and identity structure analysis.