Critical race theory in England: impact and opposition

Abstract

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Seeing and unseeing Prevent’s racialized borders

“…Beginning from the premise that racism is a ‘permanent feature of modern social formations’, critical race theory interrogates and rejects liberal models of race equality and discourses of colour-blind and post-racial societies, which are considered to be insidious fictions crucial to the maintenance of white supremacy through the marginalization of concerns around the persistence of structured racism (Warmington, 2020: 23). Critical race theory centres the analysis of white supremacy conceived of as ‘a political system, a particular power structure of formal and informal rule, privilege, socioeconomic advantages’ (Taylor cited in Warmington, 2020: 25). Moreover, Warmington argues that white supremacy is regarded as both ‘systemic and global’ (2020: 25).…”

Just what is critical race theory, and what is it doing in British sociology? From “BritCrit” to the racialized social system approach

“…The first recorded paper using the term CRT in Britain was in 2003, when David Gillborn presented "Education policy as an act of White supremacy" at the British Educational research Association. 2 Since then, CRT gained traction in educational studies, while also facing criticism over its supposed "class blindness" (Warmington, 2019).…”

“…The first recorded paper using the term CRT in Britain was in 2003, when David Gillborn presented “Education policy as an act of White supremacy” at the British Educational research Association 2 . Since then, CRT gained traction in educational studies, while also facing criticism over its supposed “class blindness” (Warmington, 2019). The problem is that both advocates and critics of CRT overlook the racialized social system approach, and therefore, argue for or against CRT without specifying its conceptual framework.…”

Black male teachers, white education spaces: Troubling school practices of othering and surveillance

“…Originally framed within five central tenets: the centrality and intersectionality of race and racism; the challenge to dominant ideology; valuing experiential knowledge; and the interdisciplinary perspective, CRT’s allure to race‐conscious scholarship lies in the power of its analytical framework and in its capacity to address endemic racism in society and its unapologetic stance on the centrality of race as a unit of social analysis (Leonardo, 2009). CRT’s use in the UK has grown in recent years (Warmington, 2019) and although the histories of race and racism in the UK and the USA are different, its applicability to the examination of racial hierarchies is pertinent to both contexts.…”

“…Since the publication of Ladson‐Billings and Tate’s (1995) seminal text, the growth of CRT scholarship ‘has not necessarily followed a clear path or resulted in a well‐defined body of scholarship in education’ (Dixson & Rousseau Anderson, 2018: 122). Writing on CRT in England, Warmington (2019) describes CRT as a ‘significant intellectual force among anti‐racist scholars and activists’, yet it is instructive to note that critiques of CRT emanate from within and outside the discipline. Darder and Torres (2004, cited in Ledesma & Calderón, 2015) denounce CRT on the basis that it does not incorporate a ‘substantive critique of capitalism’ and that ‘the use of “race” itself has been elevated to a theoretical construct, despite the fact that the concept of “race” itself has remained under‐theorized’ (p. 207).…”