Strangers, identities and belonging

Abstract

In this contribution we provide a response to Ash Amin's account of the changing role of both growing multiculture and phenotypical racism in contemporary societies. We argue that it is important to bring the wider historical context of the present into any rounded analysis of the contemporary political debates about multiculture and race. Amin's account raises important theoretical and political issues that need to be explored from both a conceptual and empirical persepctive if we are to be able to better understand the present as well as develop a frame for making sense of the future.

Keywords:

• strangers
• belonging
• multiculture
• racism
• identities