|
Amir Saeed
© Amir Saeed2007
Modern racism has been used to scapegoat incoming black and Asian migrants pulled into the Western economies, and to divide them from white workers. Today we can see the development of other variants of racism stemming from this era of globalisation and imperialism …The destruction of whole societies by neoliberal economics and the policies of the IMF and the World Bank has uprooted many people in the poorer countries.
(Mahamdallie, 2003 45-4)
This article argues that to understand modern racism in the UK one has to
make connections between popular racism and wider socio-economic influences.
Thus to understand PM Gordon Brown’s recent neo fascistic statement
“British jobs for British workers” one needs to examine the
broader politics of globalisation in the modern world. The racisms espoused
under this current neo-liberal climate echo the biological racism of the
era of Empire, combined with a cultural xenophobic racism that argues for
the preservation of “Fortress Europe”, or for Britishness, and
questions multiculturalism.
Attempts to control unwanted non-white immigration into the UK and the West
could be traced back to the 16th Century. In an era of globalisation, mass
migration has taken on a new significance. Moral panics about asylum seekers
and refugees have been further heightened since the 9/11 attacks. The rhetoric
used to exclude ‘unwanted migrants’ takes on an explicitly racist
tone; however this politics of exclusion is in many ways fuelled by economic
underpinnings. It is this connection between globalisation and racism underpinned
by a history of imperialism that now frames our discourse.
The forces of globalisation occupy and re-invent cultures and discourses
of racial superiority in order to safeguard the economic interest of power.
Thus economic groups such as the IMF, WTO, G8 etc are seen as almost preserving
white cultural domination through economic subjugation. This ideology at
times is clear and brutal but is maintained through hegemonic control. Thus
the privileged position of the Western nations is seen as natural and due
to greater political pluralism and democracy not the continued exploitation
of other parts of the world or other peoples. Thus the invasion of Iraq
mirrors this process. Bush/Blair/Brown are bringing ‘democracy’
to Iraq in much the same manner that missionaries brought civilisation to
the ‘dark’ parts of the world in the age of empire. ‘Race’
thinking here is intrinsic but not overt.
‘Race’ as a concept does not exist, yet belief in this lie
leads to the direct and indirect discrimination, abuse and suffering of
billions of people on Earth on a daily, hourly and secondly basis. Across
the globe racism manifests itself in various ways that ensures people are
victimised on the basis of some supposedly hallucinatory negative biological
and/or cultural trait that they are supposed to possess. Any attempt to
explain comprehensively global accounts of the immediacy, currency and future
of racism is virtually impossible, since the institutional structures, types,
targets and experiences are so potentially vast and full of regional, local
and national variations that dispute and debate will be inevitable.
What cannot be disputed is that human beings will suffer. In short the racism
faced by an asylum seeker on the streets in the North East of England by
a fascist group will be visibly different from the persecution faced by
a Palestinian woman by the occupying Israeli army in the Gaza strip. Both
situations may have the essential requirements that allow racism and prejudice
to manifest but both are also dependent on varying socio-cultural circumstances.
Contemporary racism manifests itself in a number of different hybrid forms.
Its agency is premised on a number of false assumptions about ‘race’,
and on generalising human beings’ existence and experiences into simple
homogenous groupings. Even now racism can still resemble the biological
arguments employed to justify slavery and imperialism.
All Muslims, like all dogs, share certain characteristics. A dog is not
the same animal as a cat just because both species are comprised of different
breeds. An extreme Christian believes that the Garden of Eden really existed;
an extreme Muslim flies planes into buildings - there's a big difference.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
Simultaneously cultural racism is evident with politicians questioning the success of a multicultural society. The moral panic surrounding the events of 9/11, and 7/7 have led to a right-wing led debate under the guise of community cohesion that have suggested a return to “core national values/culture” (note that the debates suggest the lack of precise meanings for these terms; national and culture) alongside stricter immigration and policing controls. Recently a new dominant neo-right wing discourse has been formulated that questions the whole concepts of multiculturalism. What makes this different from previous right wing criticism of multiculturalism is that much of this criticism is coming from previously centre left commentators. Much of this language has taken even the more sinister view of questioning the need of immigration, questioning minority communities and questioning the actual benefits of a multicultural society.
These reactionary and conservative arguments fail to adequately examine
social, political and even cultural reasons for contemporary events. Thus
deep ideological and institutional factors such as, British/Western foreign
policy, poverty, ‘white flight’ or anti-Muslim racism are marginalised
or glossed over.
The irony here is twofold: mainstream politicians appear to operate in a
system that assumes racism is the perverse psychological thinking of the
far right. Thus they are willing to support anti-racist initiatives that
do not challenge the economic status quo. Witness David Cameron courting
the British Pakistani Muslim boxer Amir Khan or Gordon Brown applauding
the Football Unites/Racism Divides initiative. Simultaneously politicians
make statements about the need for Muslims to integrate, the need for harsher
immigration controls and greater policing powers. These are all measures
that are debated in a highly racialised climate yet the racist assumptions/assertions
forwarded are discounted or ignored. The further irony here is that global
capital needs migrants and cheap labour to slave in the sweatshops of Africa,
Asia and Latin America. Capitalism needs the cheap supply of even white
Eastern European migrants who at times suffer racism in much the same way
white Irish migrants did in previous times (the further sad irony here is
the growth of anti-Eastern racism alongside anti Black/Asian racism in Ireland).
One last personal point may help illustrate my argument that to examine
contemporary racism in its many forms needs an examination of broader socio-economic
developments. I was born in Pakistan, my family migrated to the UK as economic
migrants (read as trying to get a better life!) when I was two; I have been
educated here and employed in UK since leaving education. Yet I am still
questioned about my “right to belong” due to my skin colour
(that implies not British) and my religion (that implies not Western).
Thus capitalism that drove my family to seek a better life also fuelled
the prejudice that still questions my existence. This in return begs the
question - would I qualify for a ‘British job’ under Brown’s
proposals? - for many it appears I am still an immigrant.
Ref: Hasan Mahamdallie (2003) “Racism” in Anti-Imperialism:
A guide for the Movement. Bookmark Publications London
Subscribe to Soundings a journal of politics and culture
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
