Ethnicity and Postcolonial theory- Paul Gilroy
Colonialism: the policy or practice of acquiring full or partial political control over another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically.
Britain had a large empire. In 1913 the British Empire owned 23% of the world's population. By 1920 it covered 13,700,000 square miles which was 24% of Earth's total area. British school children were taught to paint the map red and it was said the sun never set on the British Empire as it was always daytime somewhere in the Empire.
Once the British had taken over a country they would treat those who lived there as second class and slaves.
The British Empire began to fall apart after WW2 and there was a process of decolonisation as countries began to gain their independence again, this occurred between 1945-1997.
Post colonialism: the political or cultural condition of a former colony. A theoretical approach in various disciplines that is concerned with the lasting impact of Colonization in former colonies.
According to Paul Gilroy we have a Colonial Discourse. He says that the Colonial Discourse continue to inform contemporary attitudes to race and ethnicities in the Post Colonial era.
After the war there was a shortage of people and there wasn't enough to fill the amount of jobs. To comprehend this there was a wave of immigration mostly from the West Indies and the Caribbean. These people considered themselves to be English due to the British Empire. They came to Britain looking for work and jobs. This resulted in the beginnings of a multi cultural society in Britain.
In 2005 Paul Gilroy said 'Multicultural society seems to be abandoned at birth.' This follows the idea that people who had been brought up and told they were British would then come to Britain and be told they were foreign and treated with racism.
Gilroy also talks about the idea of Civilisationism and Otherness. The 'Other' represents those who are different than us (Edward Said 1978). It's the idea of Civilised vs Uncivilised, Us vs Them. This links to Levi Strauss' idea of binary opposites
It suggests that within society there is a racial hierarchy that depends on your civilisation and power. It's the idea that white people are more powerful than those who came from other countries. This doesn't just apply to people of colour but anyone who isn't British, e.g white Australians.
Gilroy also talks about how these ideas come back into play when in times of conflict. For example Muslims which is a religion not a race but is treated as a group of people who are different to white people.
According to Gilroy, Britain is still mourning the loss of their Empire and this is shown in the present with the racism in society. Britain likes to think of itself as the most powerful and strives for it.
According to Ofsted the British values are:
- Democracy
- The rule of law
- Individual liberty/ freedom
- Mutual respect and tolerance for those with a different faith and /or belief
These views don't talk about respecting those of different races, only faiths.
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