As the neoconservative idea of a clash of civilisations is increasingly challenged, a number of liberal writers — Paul Berman, Nick Cohen, Martin Amis, Andrew Anthony, Bernard Henry-Lévy and Christopher Hitchens — are rethinking the ‘war on terror’ as a cold war against Islamism, defined as a totalitarian political movement analogous to fascism or Stalinism.…
There can be no social cohesion while an entire group of citizens is cast as the enemy within. The demand, since September 11, has been for a recharging of the batteries of national belonging, for the state to once again connect with the nation. In response, the government has chosen to bind itself to the…
The official response to the summer 2001 riots in the northern towns of the UK is now taking shape. December saw the publication of the Cantle report [1], titled Community Cohesion, which defines the government’s strategy for maintaining order in those towns. [2] At the same time, Home Secretary Blunkett announced that the government was considering an…
Published in October 2001, this paper explores the new common sense racism emerging through media and political discourses of asylum, particularly linked to the policy of dispersing asylum seekers out of London to other parts of England. Focusing on the ways in which an attitude of multicultural tolerance towards some racialised groups, seen as ‘settled’, appeared to…
From April to July 2001, the northern English towns of Oldham, Burnley and Bradford saw violent confrontations between young Asians and the police, culminating in the clashes of 7-9 July in Bradford in which 200 police officers were injured. The clashes were prompted by racist gangs attacking Asian communities and the failure of the police to…
Published in April 2000, this paper examines press coverage of the publication of the Macpherson inquiry report into the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence, particularly focusing on the articulation of shifting ideologies of ‘race’, class, and nation. The report was represented in much of the press as an attack on Englishness and as a capitulation…