Research in Ethnic Relations Series – serie

First Published in 2016. In this book starts with the discussion located at the crossroads between two basic political principles. The first one is the democratic idea of representative government, based on elections by general suffrage. The second is the nation-state principle which says that the world is divided into sovereign states and that only those who are citizens can claim a right to take part in political life, in other words that foreign citizens are not allowed to participate in political elections. Democracy is honoured almost everywhere, at least as a principle, but the modern system of states presupposes that as a general rule only those who are citizens are entitled to vote, to stand for election, to join parties, and to participate in political debate and give voice to their political demands and interests. Both these basic political principles are young, and their pre sent confrontation is therefore also new to us.

First Published in 2016. In this book starts with the discussion located at the crossroads between two basic political principles. The first one is the democratic idea of representative government, based on elections by general suffrage. The second is the nation-state principle which says that the world is divided into sovereign states and that only those who are citizens can claim a right to take part in political life, in other words that foreign citizens are not allowed to participate in political elections. Democracy is honoured almost everywhere, at least as a principle, but the modern system of states presupposes that as a general rule only those who are citizens are entitled to vote, to stand for election, to join parties, and to participate in political debate and give voice to their political demands and interests. Both these basic political principles are young, and their pre sent confrontation is therefore also new to us.

This book develops the concept of racialisation. It argues that a full understanding of racialized discourse must pay attention to both the particular local circumstances in which they appear, and well-established themes which have unfolded over time. An important aspect of the study is the examination of other discourses with which racialized ideas have co-joined, reflecting the way in which notions of 'race' are socially constructed. The final part of the book returns to debates of the 1980’s and argues that the racialisation of unrest in that decade was closely intertwined with conservative perspectives which sought to deny socio-economic causes in favour of explanations based upon the supposed cultural or personal proclivities of those involved.