Political mobilisation by minorities in Britain: Negative feedback of ‘race relations'?

Abstract This article uses a political opportunity approach to study the relationship of minority groups to the political community in Britain. The main argument is that the British race relations approach established in the 1960s had an important effect that still shapes the patterns of political contention by different minority groups today. Original data on political claims‐making by minorities demonstrate that British ‘racialised’ cultural pluralism has structured an inequality of opportunities for the two main groups, African‐Caribbeans and Indian subcontinent minorities. African‐Caribbeans mobilise along racial lines, use a strongly assimilative ‘black’ identity, conventional action forms, and target state institutions with demands for justice that are framed within the recognised framework of race relations. Conversely, a high proportion of the Indian…