Black politics and the web of joined‐up governance: compromise, ethnic minority mobilization and the transitional public sphere

Abstract

In the past decade we have seen the emergence of new forms of ethnic minority political mobilization. In this paper we explore one aspect of this transformation, namely the emergence of organizations such as the National Civil Rights Movement (NCRM) and the National Assembly Against Racism (NAAR). We argue that such organizations are part of a transitional public sphere within ethnic minority politics that seeks to provide links between mainstream and alternative forms of minority political activism. Such organizations have grown partly as a result of the need to construct new channels of political involvement and engagement for minority communities. In this sense they represent a break from the dominant forms of ethnic minority politics and highlight the ways in which minority political networks have become interlinked with wider policy networks within national and local state institutions, the legal system and civil society more generally. They represent an arena of political participation that is likely to grow in importance in the coming period as ethnic minority communities exert pressure for greater influence within both national and local political institutions. Drawing on original research among a number of organizations, this paper provides an analysis of the evolution and likely impact of this sphere of minority political life.