ELECTORAL POLITICS| GOVERNMENT POLICY 6 August: A YouGov poll shows that opposition to the far-right riots is near-universal across the public, with Reform UK voters the only group showing any substantive levels of support at 21 per cent. Even this is a clear minority, with three-quarters of Reform voters (76 per cent) opposed to the
Animating the archive
The July 2024 issue of Race & Class includes several articles which use past struggles to reread the present. In a thought-provoking article, Natasha Carver (University of Bristol) sheds light on the contours of the present-day narrative of ‘Female Genital Mutilation’, by analysing how, in the heyday of empire, the issue was first raised
Building unity against far-right violence
23 July – 6 August We want to begin by sending our solidarity to those resisting racial violence and building solidarity in our communities – it has been heartening to see neighbours support one another, as well as the growing anti-racist movement against the far Right. Our last newsletter, headed ‘Disinformation fuels racism’, could well
Calendar of Racism and Resistance (23 July – 6 August 2024)
ELECTORAL POLITICS | GOVERNMENT POLICY 23 July: Germany’s governing coalition puts forward reforms to protect its Federal Constitutional Court from political influence from the rising far-right AfD by enshrining its procedures in the constitution. (Deutsche Welle, 23 July 2024) 24 July: To combat ‘Islamic extremism’, Germany’s interior minister closes down the Islamic Centre in
Stop changing the subject – the problem is fascism
These far-right riots and the ensuing racist and Islamophobic violence are unparalleled. Yet the government’s response is to focus on ‘violent disorder across the ideological spectrum’. This dissimulation cannot go unchallenged. You can’t solve a problem unless you name it. How is it possible to deny, after far-right rioters exploit the horrific killing of
Disinformation fuels racism
9 – 23 July 2024 In this week’s Calendar of Racism and Resistance, the disturbances in Harehills, east Leeds, which started after children from a Roma family were forcibly taken by social services, loom large. We chart the fight-back of the community, particularly the Roma and BME young people, to the multiple harms experienced, including the spread
Calendar of Racism and Resistance ( 9 – 23rd July 2024)
ELECTORAL POLITICS| GOVERNMENT POLICY As anti-migrant, anti-equalities, anti-abortion, misogynistic and anti-LGBTQI rhetoric in electoral campaigning are increasingly interlinked, we reflect this in the coverage below which also includes information on the influence of the Christian Right as well as the religious Right generally. 9 July: In his first Commons speech as prime minister, Starmer hails the
The attack on welfare: from disability benefits to asylum support
Image header: On 23 March 2012, a painted mural composed of the drawings, ideas and messages of disabled asylum seekers was installed in Bristol. Credit: Disability Murals Sophia Siddiqui analyses the outgoing government’s attack on disability social security, showing how it drew on stigmatising moral panics and followed a similar approach to the attack on
Will the new government break with the punitive approach to the poor and marginalised?
25 June – 9 July In his victory speech, the new prime minister spoke of a ‘mission of national renewal’, promising to reward those who ‘work hard’ and play by the rules’. Although early days, it was disappointing that Sir Keir Starmer did not outline how his ‘Country First’ programme for ‘working people’ would benefit
Calendar of Racism and Resistance ( 25 June – 9 July 2024)
ELECTORAL POLITICS| GOVERNMENT POLICY 26 June: The German government approves legislation to simplify deportations to Afghanistan, Syria and other countries for those who express support for terrorism, including through ‘liking’ social media posts, with no conviction necessary for an individual to be deported. (Deutsche Welle, 26 June 2024) 26 June: Labour is accused of ‘not