Britain and the repression of Black Power in the 1960s and ‘70s

Gowland, B. (2022) Britain and the repression of Black Power in the 1960s and ‘70s. Race and Class, 64(2), pp. 20-37. (doi: 10.1177/03063968221115336)

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Abstract

This article details the extensive security regimes deployed against Black Power in the Caribbean that were operated by regional governments and the (neo)colonial British state. These regimes of securitisation targeted radical Black political groups and actors whose Black Power ideology placed them in an antagonistic relation to independent West Indian states and Britain. The author argues that the British state’s involvement in the suppression of Black Power in the Caribbean is inseparable from the domestic repression of the British Black Power movement. But also, shared opposition to British (neo)imperialism and the personal ties of West Indian migrants to Britain connected Black Power resistance on both sides of the Atlantic. By drawing on British Foreign & Commonwealth Office, Ministry of Defence and Cabinet Office files, as well as political newspapers and publications produced at the time, the author traces the British state’s involvement in the transnational repression of Black Power in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Item Type:Articles
Additional Information:This work was supported by the Geographical Club Award, administered by the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG).
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Gowland, Mr Ben
Authors: Gowland, B.
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > School of Geographical and Earth Sciences
Journal Name:Race and Class
Publisher:SAGE Publications
ISSN:0306-3968
ISSN (Online):1741-3125
Published Online:09 September 2022
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2022 Institute of Race Relations
First Published:First published in Race and Class 64(2): 20-37
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

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