The Future of Race Relations Research in Britain Sociological Research and the Politics of Racial Justice

Lee Bridges , 'Race Relations Research: From Colonialism to Neo-Colonialism? Some Random Thoughts', Race (Vol. XIV, No. 3, January 1973).

Alvin W. Gouldner , 'The Sociologist as Partisan: Sociology and the Welfare State', in Jack D. Douglas, The Relevance of Sociology ( New York, Appleton-Century Crofts, 1970), pp. 112-48.

Bridges, op. cit.

J. Rex and R. Moore , Race, Community and Conflict (London, Oxford University Press for I.R.R., 1967).

5 E.J.B. Rose and associates , Colour and Citizenship (London, Oxford University Press for I.R.R., 1969), p. 4.

A.H. Halsey , 'Race Relations—The Lines to Think On' , New Society (No. 390, 19 March 1970), pp. 472-4.

M. Banton, see especially: West African City: A Study of Tribal Life in Freetown (London, Oxford University Press, 1957); The Coloured Quarter (London, Cape, 1955); Race Relations (London, Tavistock, 1967); 'What Do We Mean by Racism?' New Society (No. 341, 10 April 1969), pp. 551-4.

Banton, 'What Do We Mean by Racism?'

W.G. Runciman , Relative Deprivation and Social Justice (London , Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1966 ).

A. Fox and A. Flanders , 'The Reform of Collective Bargaining: From Durkheim to Donovan', British Journal of Industrial Relations (July 1969 ).

J. Goldthorpe , 'Social Integration and Social Inequality in Great Britain', Presidential Address to Section N of the British Association (Exeter, 1967).

R.K. Merton , Social Theory and Social Structure (New York, Free Press, 1964), pp. 224-386.

Op. cit., pp. 131-94.

'In Place of Strife—A Policy for Industrial Relations' (H.M.S.O., Cmnd. 3888,1969).

A. H. Halsey, op. cit.

Sheila Allen , 'Immigrants or Workers?' in S. Zubaida's Race and Racialism (London, Tavistock, 1970 ), p. 101.

Reprinted in Zubaida, op. cit. A more extended version appears in J. Rex, Race, Colonialism and the City (London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1973), ch. 17.

Rex, Race Colonialism and the City, p. 203.

A point on which I find myself in agreement with Robert Blauner. See his Racial Oppression in America (New York, Harper and Row, 1972).

One point to be noted about Bridges' criticism of policy-oriented research is that he speaks as though particular problems of discrimination against the underclass have been overcome. I reject this. The problem of discrimination in the allocation of council houses remains as it was when Moore and I published our book in 1967.

Short of a systematic theoretical sociological framework, a degree of emancipation from establishment assumptions is achieved by comparative work. The best example of this is the work of Genovese and his school in England. However, the use of comparisons has helped to illuminate two studies: M. Hill and R. Issacharoff, Community Action and Race Relations (London, Oxford University Press for I.R.R., 1971); and I. Katznelson, Black Men, White Cities (London, Oxford University Press for I.R.R., 1973).

G. Myrdal , Value in Social Theory (London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1958).

K. Popper , The Poverty of Historicism (London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1957).

C. Wright Mills, The Sociological Imagination ( New York, Oxford University Press, 1959).

C. Bagley , 'On the construction and reliability of a prejudice scale', Race (Vol. XI, 1970), pp. 371-4.

C. Bagley , 'Metric and non-metric measures of association for data in 2 x 2 and N x N tables', in C. Bagley (ed.), Concepts and Methods of Social Research (University of Sussex, 1972).

I can't prove that this happens with horizontal scales, but it certainly works with vertical ones, like ballot papers. Vide, C. Bagley, 'Does candidates' position on the ballot paper influence voters' choice? A study of the 1959 and 1964 British general elections', Parliamentary Affairs (Vol. 29, 1966), pp. 162-74.

G. Wilson and J. Patterson , 'A new measure of conservatism', British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology (Vol. 7, 1968), pp. 264-9. The ethnic sub-scale has been expanded for use with adolescents. Vide, C. Bagley and G. Verma , 'Some effects of teaching designed to promote understanding of racial issues in adolescence ', Journal of Moral Education (Vol. 1, 1972), pp. 231-38.

H. Triandis , Attitude and Attitude Change (New York, Wiley, 1971).

An important objector to this viewpoint is D. Bem in Beliefs, Attitudes, and Human Affairs (Belmont, Brooks Cole, 1970). Bem argues that since people behave without much thinking, behaviour is logically antecedent to attitudes, rather than vice versa. If this is so, it is doubly important to measure behavioural readiness attitudes if behaviour is to be predicted.

C. Bagley , 'Racial prejudice and the "conservative" personality: a British sample ', Political Studies (Vol. 18, 1970), pp. 134-41; and C. Bagley , G. Wilson and R. Boshier , 'The conservatism scale: a factor structure comparison of English, Dutch and New Zealand samples ', Journal of Social Psychology (Vol. 81, 1970), pp. 267-8.

C. Bagley, Social Structure and Prejudice in Five English Boroughs (London, Institute of Race Relations, 1970).

R. Davies , Fundamentals of Attitude Measurement (New York , Wiley, 1972).

N. Cauthen , I. Robinson and H. Krauss , 'Stereotypes: a review of the literature 1926-1968', Journal of Social Psychology (Vol. 84, 1971), pp. 103-25.

Gajendra Verma and I are investigating stereotyped perception of various ethnic groups, together with social distance ratings, in a large sample of English adolescents.