Racism & Fascism - new material (43)
01 August 2003
The British neoconservatives, John Kampfner. New Statesman 12.5.03, pp.18-20. This piece examines an "intriguing new alliance [that] is forming in British politics" which "lies beyond conventional party structures". The UK neo-conservatives are "a coalition between conservative thinkers and their pro-war, pro-intervention counterparts who hailed from the left" including David Aaronovitch (Guardian journalist), John Lloyd (former editor of the New Statesman), Stephen Pollard (ex-Fabian Society and the Social Market Foundation), Danny Finkelstein (former Social Democrat and would be Conservative Party candidate), Michael Gove (assistant editor of The Times) and Melanie Phillips (Daily Mail columnist).
Denmark's "exotic" exhibitions, Rikke Andreassen. Race & Class vol 45 no 2 2003 pp. 39-53. Andreassen recounts the series of ethnographic exhibitions in Denmark between 1878-1909 and their impact as mass audience entertainment. He describes the public obsession with "naturalness" and "authenticity" leading to a positive image of "noble savages", unspoilt and in tune with nature. Nonetheless they were also seen as backward and uncivilised; lacking in "cultural history". Andreassen argues the (often deliberately exaggerated) sexuality of these "exotic" people "was an integral part of the period’s European discourse on sexuality..." Moreover, this discourse was a male one and thus unconsciously perhaps these exhibitions represented an attempt to "control and "narrate" a hierarchical world order" - a strengthening of European culture and identity, what Andreassen describes as "a white male European version of history".
Bringing it all back home: Irish emigration and racism, Bill Rolston. Race & Class vol 45 no 2 2003 pp. 21-38. Rolston focuses on the emigration of "Scots Irish" and "Irish Catholics" to the USA and the social world they encountered. He charts the role over time of these Irish immigrant classes in a society of racial and religious prejudice coupled with an unforgiving system of economic liberalism. In particular he focuses on their relationship with African-Americans and the racism directed towards them both during slavery and the escalating racism with their emancipation - which was seen by the "Irish" as a major threat to their own economic and social struggles. Racism played a large role in Irish social assimilation and advancement: "They justified their [social] mobility through racist sentiments no less intense and offensive than those of their WASP bosses". Thus they forced African-Americans out of Irish monopolised professions at every opportunity. Rolston notes that remarkably this racism was not reciprocated and indeed cites several examples of African-American support for the Irish struggle for freedom. He also emphasises the need for caution against generalisation over the level of racism amongst Irish settlers, but concludes that it did influence friends and family across the Atlantic: "the intermingling of racism and anti-racism has left its mark on contemporary attitudes in Irish society". Available from: Sage Publications, Tel (0)20 7374 0645, subscription@sagepub.co.uk, www.sagepublications.com
Investigating allegations of racially discriminatory behaviour. Police Complaints Authority guidelines. Police Complaints Authority (July) 2003, pp. 18 (ISBN 0-9543215-2-9. These guidelines are "intended to assist in the development of the complaints process as a means of raising the standard of policing”. It is a reflection of the report of The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry (1999) in which Sir William Macpherson stated that: "Appraisal, supervision and disciplinary procedures should be used to make clear to all staff that the service is committed to a policy of non-tolerance of racist conduct."
EUMC internet guide on organisations combating racism and xenophobia in Europe, Beate Winkler & Bent Sorensen (eds). European Monitoring Centre on Racism & Xenophobia 2003, pp. 112. "This internet guide contains<