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fflur_jones's review against another edition
5.0
The seminal book on race, immigration and nationalism in the UK. Illustrates the ways in which race and class interact within, intersect with and structure cultural discourse and ideas of Britishness. It also offers a powerful critique of how race is mobilised in said discourse (particularly relevant when looking at identity politics). As relevant now as it was when it was first released!
monsterful_alex's review against another edition
4.0
Paul Gilroy offers a fluent account of 'race' and racism in Britain from the 1950s until the 1987, taking into account historical influences, political strategies, modes of representation in media, and by figures of authority (both police and politicians) and capitalist logic, albeit from a rather Marxist perspective. This book is an eye-opener into understanding British policies of 'race', and trying to combat them.
notthatcosta's review against another edition
challenging
informative
slow-paced
3.75
The main thing to remark about this book is how, despite being published in the 1987, most of it feel like it could have been written in 2023. The commentary is eerily predictive of what is to come across the threads mentioned (music and pop culture, politics, public opinion).
The introduction and first chapter were not the easiest to get into due to how 'academic' the writing style is, but chapters 2 and 3 are incredibly insightful and packed with quotes, data and case studies which grounds the theory and makes it a lot easier to follow.
Overall, despite the structure and tendency towards heavily academic political theory, this is an incredibly interesting and insightful time capsule of discourse around Blackness in Britain in the 80s.
The introduction and first chapter were not the easiest to get into due to how 'academic' the writing style is, but chapters 2 and 3 are incredibly insightful and packed with quotes, data and case studies which grounds the theory and makes it a lot easier to follow.
Overall, despite the structure and tendency towards heavily academic political theory, this is an incredibly interesting and insightful time capsule of discourse around Blackness in Britain in the 80s.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, and Racial slurs
elleneam's review against another edition
3.0
At first I found the book very hard going, as he uses quite difficult language and concepts.But I kept going and started to enjoy it (even it I didn't agree 100% on all his political points). It was insightful and it almost felt as if you were there in the movement itself. However, I was hit by the last chapter. He seems to completely to completely change his position on the question of class and race, and starts using 'social movement theories' which don't really explain anything in my opinion. I would recommend giving it a read if you have the time, as most of the book is good, and he presents an important and under-written about history of the 70s and 80s, but I really didn't think much of his conclusions.
chirson's review against another edition
3.0
The parts about music went over my head.
There's a core here that really resonates and stays relevant (particularly worth thinking about post-Windrush scandal) and some of it could have used a much stronger attention to issues of gender. Perhaps my reading is hopelessly asynchronous; I come to the book with knowledge of the interventions feminism has made in the field of culture studies, and wish the author had known of texts that came after him. Or perhaps the gaps are still gaps.
There's a core here that really resonates and stays relevant (particularly worth thinking about post-Windrush scandal) and some of it could have used a much stronger attention to issues of gender. Perhaps my reading is hopelessly asynchronous; I come to the book with knowledge of the interventions feminism has made in the field of culture studies, and wish the author had known of texts that came after him. Or perhaps the gaps are still gaps.
awrathall's review against another edition
5.0
This was an incredibly interesting and thoroughly researched overview of race relations in the UK in the age of immigration. I hadn't read such a heavy and detailed book on the subject before so it took me a while to get to grips with it - the first chapter especially is incredibly laden with terminology that is fairly difficult to understand, with many sentences requiring rereading - but Gilroy finds a more compelling voice later in the book. The 3rd and 4th chapters are especially interesting, respectively giving a view of relations between the police and migrant communities and their representation in wider culture and media, and a history of anti-racist movements in recent years both from a popular and governmental direction. The 5th chapter focusing on the expression of black culture through music is not as evidently relevant to begin with, but the greater themes Gilroy draws on in this section give more context to the points he is trying to make about the unique nature of race as a social qualifier in regards to class and other distinctions. A truly excellent exploration of black culture both inside the UK and out, with some detailed history of which I was previously not aware. Would recommend highly.
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