Racism and Nationalism in the United Kingdom: A View from the Periphery
Considers historical aspects of the political economy of nationalization at the periphery of the UK, drawing on a discussion of the literature, particularly Michael Banton's (eg, 1991 [see abstract 91X8195]) work on race relations. It is suggested that the process of nationalization has proceeded by means of historically specific articulations of nationalism & racism that have occurred in both securing English domination in the UK & in reproducing British domination in Africa & India. Recent analyses of the situation in Northern Ireland from a race relations perspective have failed to account for the incompleteness of the process of nationalization in the UK. It is argued that a proper analysis of the situation in Northern Ireland would require several steps: a distinction between the biological characteristics of the human body & the cultural articulation of these characteristics, establishment of the everyday processes of such articulation, & interpretation of the meaning of racism in these processes. It is concluded that the problems endemic to Banton's race relations paradigm can be averted by rejecting the use of race as an analytic category & instead analyzing actual claims made to a distinct origin or history by various social groups in contestation. D. M. Smith