Animating the archive - Institute of Race Relations (original) (raw)
August 22 2024 Press Release
The July 2024 issue of Race & Class includes several articles which use past struggles to reread the present.
In a thought-provoking article, Natasha Carver (University of Bristol) sheds light on the contours of the present-day narrative of ‘Female Genital Mutilation’, by analysing how, in the heyday of empire, the issue was first raised in Parliament by the Duchess of Atholl and MP Eleanor Rathbone, who gained ground for feminism through a re-articulation of ‘_Whitely values’.
Christian Høgsbjerg (University of Brighton) and Hannah Ishmael (Kings College London) turn to the archive to recover the life and work of Grenada-born Sam Morris (1908–1976), an educationalist, pan-Africanist, and state community relations stalwart. Through recovering glimpses of Morris’ life, the authors reveal a figure of contradictions set against changing political forces.
Turning to another hitherto untold life story, emeritus professor of history Tony Collins explores the life of Lionel Francis – a miner and preacher in South Wales, who in the US ousted Garvey from the leadership of the UNIA and then became a conservative parliamentarian in British Honduras (Belize) during decolonisation. Through tracing the story of his life, the author highlights the largely unexplored history of the pre-Windrush generations of black working-class people in Britain.
Articles:
- The princess, the witch and the fairy godmother: colonial legacies in ‘FGM’ by Natasha Carver
- The antinomies of Sam Morris: a life in the diaspora by Christian Høgsbjerg and Hannah Ishmael
- From black Welsh miner to Marcus Garvey’s nemesis: Lionel Francis and the Black Atlantic by Tony Collins
- The Johnson-Forest Tendency, radicalising Gunnar Myrdal’s _American Dilemma by Jonas Grahn
- Nil Darpan: how a mistakenly published play helped force labour reforms in British India by Jeffrey Stanley
Commentary:
The Institute of Race Relations is precluded from expressing a corporate view: any opinions expressed are therefore those of the authors.