Citizenship and immigration in Post-War Britain : the institutional origins of a multicultural nation

The author draws extensively on archival material and theortical advances in the social sciences literature on citizenship and migration to examine the UK's transformation, since 1945, from a homogeneous into a multicultural society. Rejecting a dominant strain of sociological and historical inquiry emphasizing state racism, Hansen argues that politicians and civil servants were overall liberal, relative to a public to which it owed its office, and pursued policies that were rational for any liberal democratic politician. He explains the trajectory of British migration and nationality policy - its exceptional liberality until the 1950s, its exceptional restrictiveness after then, and its tortured and seemingly racist definition of citizenship. The combined effect of a 1948 imperial definition of citizenship (adopted independently of immigration) and a primary commitment to migration from the Old Dominions, locked British politicians into a series of policy choices resulting in a migration and nationality regime that was not racist in intention, but was racist in effect. In this ground-breaking book, the author draws extensively on archival material and theortical advances in the social sciences literature on citizenship and migration. Citizenship and Immigration in Postwar Britain examines the transformation since 1945 of the UK from a homogeneous into a multicultural society. Rejecting a dominant strain of sociological and historical inquiry emphasising state racism, Hansen argues that politicians and civil servants were overall liberal relative to a public, to which it owed its office, and pursued policies that were rational for any liberal democratic politician. He explains the trajectory of British migration and nationality policy - its exceptional liberality until the 1950s, its exceptional restrictiveness after then, and its tortured and seemingly racist definition of citizenship. The combined effect of a 1948 imperial definition of citizenship (adopted independently of immigration) and a primary commitment to migration from the Old Dominions, locked British politicians into a series of policy choices resulting in a migration and nationality regime that was not racist in intention, but was racist in effect. In the context of a liberal elite and an illiberal public, Britain's current restrictive migration policies result not from the faling of its policy-makers but those of its institutions. Citizenship And Immigration In Post-war Britain Examines The Transformation Since 1945 Of The United Kingdom From A Homogeneous Into A Multicultural Society. Rejecting A Dominant Strain Of Sociological And Historical Inquiry Emphasizing State Racism, Hansen Argues That Politicians And Civil Servants Were Overall Liberal Relative To The Public, To Which They Owed Their Office, And That They Pursued Policies That Were Rational For Any Liberal Democratic Politician.--jacket. Migration And Nationality In Post-war Britain -- Imperial Subjects, Imperial Citizens: The British Nationality Act, 1948 -- Immigration In The Indian Summer: Churchill And Eden -- The Decline Of An Ideal: The Conservatives And Immigration, 1958-1960 -- Same Citizenship, Contrasting Rights: The 1962 Commonwealth Immigrants Act -- Labour And Party Competition: The Race Relations Act, 1965 -- The Kenyan Asians Crisis Of 1968 -- Heath, Powell, And Migration Policy 1968-1974 -- Citizenship's Late Entrance: The British Nationality, 1981 -- Migration Policy In The 1970s And 1980s: The Institutional Origins Of British Restrictionism. Randall Hansen. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [269]-286) And Index.