Northern Ireland and the Crisis of Anti-Racism : Rethinking Racism and Sectarianism

This book makes an important contribution to the discussion on the ‘crisis of anti-racism’ in the United Kingdom. It looks at two phenomena that are rarely examined together – racism and sectarianism. Gilligan argues that thinking critically about sectarianism and other racisms in Northern Ireland helps to clear up some confusions regarding ‘race’ and ethnicity. 

Many of the prominent themes in debates on racism and anti-racism in the UK today – including the role of religion, community cohesion, racism and ‘terrorism’ – were central to discussions on sectarianism in Northern Ireland during the conflict and peace process. The book provides a sustained critique of the Race Relations paradigm that dominates official anti-racism and sketches out some elements of an emancipatory anti-racism. 

Although focused on Northern Ireland the book is wide-ranging in scope. It examines the development of official anti-racism from its origins in the USA at the end of the First World War, through its internationalisation via the United Nations at the end of the Second World War, and its incorporation into Race Relations policy in the UK (and Community Relations policy in Northern Ireland) since the 1960s.