Third Way anti-racism: A contextual constructionist approach

Abstract

Recent debate surrounding racism and immigration in the UK reveals that anti-racist policy is being constructed within a ‘Third Way’ political agenda such that the definition of racism comes to signify a phenomenon considered detrimental to the ‘building of community’. Given the controversial role of the British state in perpetuating the ‘immigration/race-relations problematic’, this paper argues that New Labour's approach to racism comes to embody a set of contradictory assumptions fostered in previous administrations while incorporating elements significant to ‘Third Way’ governance. Crucial to current policy prescription is the reconstitution of the subject of racism, such that both perpetrator and target are viewed through the policy lens of emotional governance. In short, the contemporary anti-racist state seeks to foster legitimacy via an appeal to an emotionalized subjective condition, so that policy defines racism according to the needs of state. Consequently, current ‘race-relations’ policy is an intervention which redefines racist causation while reinforcing state authority.