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"Race" Relations in Britain - 40N0136

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  • Department: English and Related Literature
  • Module co-ordinator: Dr. Meg Roughley
  • Credit value: 20 credits
  • Credit level: I
  • Academic year of delivery: 2023-24

Module summary

This module is for students of the Norwegian Study Centre only.

Subjects to be covered will include the following:

  • The history of ‘race’-thinking

  • Immigration - history and legislation

  • ‘Race’-thinking and national identity

  • Anti-discrimination legislation

  • ‘Race’ and the media

  • Education and employment

  • Ethnicity, Brexit and Pandemic

  • Current issues

A more detailed, week by week, schedule of lectures and seminars will be distributed at the start of the course.

Module will run

Occurrence Teaching period
A Semester 1 2023-24

Module aims

The purpose of this module is to provide a critical introduction to the politics and practicalities of ‘race’-thinking as a way of organising and legislating for ‘appropriate’ ‘race’ relations in twenty-first century Britain. Our approach to the topic will be interdisciplinary, drawing on theories and methodologies from history, sociology, anthropology and media studies, but it will be chiefly directed by the concepts of postcolonialism and Critical Race Theory.

Module learning outcomes

Upon successful completion of this module, you will:

  • Be able to demonstrate a general understanding of the key themes and issues in the area of ‘race’ relations in Britain since the second world war;

  • Be able to analyse some aspects of the key theories and ideological discourses of ‘race’ relations in Britain today;

  • Be able to employ relevant critical concepts from sociological, anthropological, political and/or literary and media discourses in considering contemporary events in the field of British race relations;

  • Have an enhanced appreciation of British culture, having studied that culture from within;

  • Be able to perform research or basic fieldwork relatively independently and to develop subsequently a sustained argument in essay form.

Assessment

Task Length % of module mark
Essay/coursework
Research Essay		 N/A 100

Special assessment rules

None

Reassessment

None

Module feedback

Students will recieve formative feedback on drafts during the course of the semester, and will receive summative feedback within 20 working days from the deadline.

Indicative reading

You will be presented with a list of scholarly articles to read for the seminars at the beginning of the module.

Additional Recommended Reading

  • Akala (2018). Natives: Race & Class in the Ruins of Empire. Two Roads.

  • Bhopal, Kalwant (2018). White Privilege: the myth of a post—racial society. Policy Press. Din, Suma (2017). Muslim Mothers and Their Children’s Schooling. Trentham.

  • Eddo-Lodge, Reni (2018). Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race. Bloomsbury.

  • Gopal, Priyamvada (2019). Insurgent Empire: Anticolonial resistance and British dissent. Verso.

  • Hirsch, Afua (2018). Brit(ish). Jonathan Cape.

  • Olusoga, David (2017). Black and British: a forgotten history. Pan.

  • Pitts, Johny (2020). Afropean: Notes from Black Europe, Penguin.

  • Rutherford, Adam (2021). How to Argue with a Racist, Experiment.

  • Saini, Angela (2020). Superior: the return of race science. Fourth Estate.

  • Sanghera, Sathnam (2021). Empireland: How Modern Britain is Shaped by its Imperial Past, Viking.

  • Shukla, Nikesh, Ed. (2016). The Good Immigrant. Unbound.

In addition to the above, there is a growing collection of texts available in the NSC library.

The University Library at York has numerous holdings on multiculturalism, race relations, etc. Look under call numbers D1.450942 and H2.642. As this is an area of contemporary cultural studies that is constantly developing, keep an eye out for new publications and new statistics. You'll find that older works (published before 1990, say) may use different terminology and classifications: be aware that as more and different people study and discuss race, cultural and ethnic relations, definitions and concepts will change.


The information on this page is indicative of the module that is currently on offer. The University is constantly exploring ways to enhance and improve its degree programmes and therefore reserves the right to make variations to the content and method of delivery of modules, and to discontinue modules, if such action is reasonably considered to be necessary by the University. Where appropriate, the University will notify and consult with affected students in advance about any changes that are required in line with the University's policy on the Approval of Modifications to Existing Taught Programmes of Study.