Political Racism: Brexit and its Aftermath

In Political Racism, Martin Shaw argues that intentional, organized hostility mobilized by political actors should be regarded as a distinctive form of racism, with a special significance in societies where racism has been delegitimized. Using a framework that integrates strategic, ideological, media, popular and policy dimensions of political racism, the book examines its role in Brexit and the rise of a new nationalist politics in the UK.


In a compelling analysis the book argues that Powellite anti-immigrant racism, reinterpreted in numerical terms, was combined with anti-East European and anti-Muslim hostility to inform the Europhobic victory. Political racism was embedded in the Brexit conflict, shaping the form of EU withdrawal and the government's post-Brexit policies.