Race Politics in Britain and France

Ideas and Policymaking since the 1960s

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by Erik Bleich

Cambridge University Press

Due/Published June 2003, 256 pages, paper

ISBN 0521009537

Britain and France have developed substantially different policies to manage racial tensions since the 1960s, in spite of having similar numbers of post-war ethnic minority immigrants. Providing the first detailed historical exploration of racial policy development in the two countries, this study traces the sources of Britain's race relations structures and France's anti-racism approach. Frank Bleich argues against the accepted beliefs that attribute policy outcomes to the role of powerful interest groups or to the constraints of existing institutions.

Contents

1. Introduction; 2. Perspectives on comparative public policymaking: the place of frames; 3. The birth of British race institutions: 1945 to the 1965 race relations act; 4. Round two: 1965 to the 1968 race relations Act; 5. From 1968 to the 1976 race relations act and beyond; 6. The origins of French anti-racism institutions: 1945 to the 1972 law; 7. The struggle continued: anti-racism from 1972 to the 1990 Gayssot law and beyond; 8. Race frames and race policymaking in Britain and France; 9. Race, racism and integration in Europe: recent developments, options and trade-offs.