Political Interpretations of ‘Racial Segregation’ in Britain

Abstract

Perhaps because Britain has no history of de jure segregation, the politics of ‘race’ have received little attention in theories of residential differentiation based on the experience of that country. Segregation has, however, been of concern to British politicians throughout the postwar period. In this paper it is shown how, and it is suggested why, their responses have inadvertently sustained rather than ameliorated racial inequalities in the structure of residential space. It is argued that the politics of ‘racial segregation’ have played a key role in undermining the rights of citizenship to which black Britons are entitled.