THE BRITISH CONSERVATIVES AND THE RACIAL ISSUE IN THE DEBATE ON DECOLONIZATION

In: Race: the journal of the Institute of Race Relations, Heft 2, S. 169-188

Abstract

Decolonization in Africa was a pol'al issue resolved in an essentially pragmatic context but debated mainly in ideological terms. The discrepancy between policy making on the Cabinet level & the prevailing att's in the British Conservative Party can be interpreted as a consequence of the meaning attached to the racial issue in the context of the decolonization debate. The debate in Britain, unlike the one in Africa did not entail direct race relations implications. Thus the gulf between policy considerations & traditional alt's could be ignored by the policy makers. Policy decisions were presented in a manner which appealed to the pragmatic element in the conservative tradition, while lip service was paid to traditional paternalism. Thus a confrontation of principles was avoided & conservative att's could lag behind the change of policy. AA.