Building the Anti-racist University, action and new agendas

An earlier version of this article was: CERS Submission to the Parliamentary Inquiry on Race and Higher Education, November 2013.

Abstract

This article reviews two decades of work carried out at the Centre for Ethnicity and Racism Studies, University of Leeds in the area of racism and higher education. It introduces key issues and themes in this field and also identifies a seven-point agenda for action. This article provides an overview and agenda-setting account of the theoretical and policy innovations developed by this research team, which provide a contextual background for this volume as a whole. Historical recognition of the role of universities as key sites for the production of racialised knowledge across a range of intellectual fields is an essential starting point. We urge promotion of fundamental de-racialisation and de-colonisation of the academy. This cannot be achieved by self-regulation by the sector or by the setting of minimum legal requirements, it requires strong political, institutional and intellectual leadership, alliance-building and mobilisation.

Keywords:

• Higher education
• universities
• racism
• antiracism
• de-racialisation
• de-colonisation

Notes

An earlier version of this article was: CERS Submission to the Parliamentary Inquiry on Race and Higher Education, November 2013.

1. For example the Toolkit is included in: (a) St. Andrew’s University Racial Equality and the Curriculum Staff Guide (2013) (http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/staff/policy/tlac/equalitydiversity/racialequality/). (b) Birkbeck, University of London, Criminology and Criminal Justice Staff Guide (2012). (c) Plymouth University’s 7 Steps to Adopting Culturally Inclusive Teaching Practices (2010), Newcastle University’s School of Medical Sciences Education Development Resources (2013) (http://www.medev.ac.uk/resources/506/project/). (d) Institute for Education, University of London Respecting Difference, good practice guide for PGCE Tutors in issues of race, faith and culture (2008) (http://www.ioe.ac.uk/RespectingDifference.pdf). (e) University of Huddersfield’s Race Equality Resources. 2013. (http://www.hud.ac.uk/equality/race/).