Synopses & Reviews
The first book in the Cultural Margins series is a ground-breaking study of racism and homophobia in British politics. Anna Marie Smith analyzes two key moments in New Right discourse: the speeches of Enoch Powell on black immigration (1968-72) and the legislative campaign of the late 1980s to prohibit the promotion of homosexuality. She challenges the silence on issues of race and sexuality in previous studies of Thatcherism and the New Right, and offers a devastating critique of racism and homophobia in late-twentieth-century Britain.
Review
"It is a project which addresses one of the most compelling issues of our time--an issue central to the survival and future well-being of gay and lesbian people (not to mention a great many other groups)." Toronto Centre for Lesbian and Gay Studies
Synopsis
Challenging the silence on race and sexuality in previous studies of Thatcherism and the New Right, this study analyzes two key moments in the New Right discourse. It offers a devastating critique of racism and homophobia in late-twentieth-century Britain.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 266-281) and index.
Table of Contents
Introduction; 1. Thatcherism, the new racism, and the British New Right: hegemonic imaginary or accidental mirage?; 2. Derrida's 'infrastructure' of supplementarity; 3. Separating difference from what it can do: nihilism and bio-power relations; 4. Powellism: the black immigrant as the post-colonial symptom and the phantasmatic re-closure of the British nation; 5. Thatcherism's promotion of homosexuality; Conclusion.