Manchester University Press Race and Riots in Thatcher's Britain (Racism, Resistance and Social Change)

This is the first book-length historical study of the collective anti-police violence that spread across England in 1980–81; the earliest confrontations between the state and members of the British public during Margaret Thatcher’s divisive government. This powerful and original book is centred around three case studies – Bristol, Brixton and Manchester – which locate these disturbances within a longer struggle against racism and disadvantage faced by black Britons. Race and riots in Thatcher’s Britain argues that these events should be viewed as ‘collective bargaining by riot’, an attempt to achieve increased political inclusion for marginalised black Britons. Peplow focuses on the political activities of black Britons and explores the actions of community organisations in the aftermath of disorders to highlight dichotomous valuations of state mechanisms. A key focus is public inquiries, which were contrastingly viewed by black Britons as either a governmental diversionary tactic, or a method of legitimising their inclusion within the British constitutional system. Through the study of a wide range of newly-available archives, interviews, under-studied local sources and records of grassroots black political organisations, Peplow’s work expands our understanding of protest movements and community activism in modern democracies. It also highlights an often-problematic reliance upon ‘official’ sources when forming historical narratives, and makes a pertinent contribution to current discussions surrounding government responses to contemporary events. This book will be of interest to researchers of race and ethnicity, migration history and modern British political and social history more generally. Due to its interdisciplinary nature, it will also make an impact across wider fields, including sociology, political sciences and criminology.