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WORK TITLE: Racism: A Critical Analysis
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 1946
WEBSITE:
CITY:
STATE:
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY: British
https://www.uel.ac.uk/Staff/c/mike-cole * https://rcss.zamanu.edu.kh/content/mike-cole * http://www.huffingtonpost.com/author/mike-cole * http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/author/C/M/au22361250.html
RESEARCHER NOTES:
LC control no.: n 81151004
LCCN Permalink: https://lccn.loc.gov/n81151004
HEADING: Cole, Mike, 1946-
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040 __ |a DLC |b eng |c DLC |e rda |d DLC |d Uk |d TnLvILS
046 __ |f 1946
100 1_ |a Cole, Mike, |d 1946-
373 __ |a Brighton Polytechnic
373 __ |a University of Brighton
373 __ |a Bishop Grosseteste University College Lincoln
374 __ |a College teachers |a Lecturers |2 lcsh
400 1_ |a Cole, Michael Charles, |d 1946-
670 __ |a Blind alley, 1980 (a.e.) |b t.p. (Mike Cole) cover (teaches at Brighton Polytech.)
670 __ |a BLAISE, Oct. 28, 1999 |b (Cole, Mike, 1946-; cited as author of Social contexts of schooling)
670 __ |a Education, equality, and human rights, 2000: |b CIP t.p. (Mike Cole) data sheet (b. May 20, 1946) galley (sr. lecturer, School of Education, Univ. of Brighton)
670 __ |a BL AL recd. 17 May 1990 |b (Michael Charles Cole, born 20 May 1946)
670 __ |a Teaching Marx : the Socialist Challenge, c2013 : |b title page (Mike Cole, Bishop Grosseteste University College Lincoln)
953 __ |a ea40 |b sj13
PERSONAL
Born May 20, 1946.
EDUCATION:Open University, B.A. (first-class honors); Sussex University, M.A.; University of Essex, Ph.D.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer and educator. University of Brighton, Brighton, England, senior lecturer; Bishop Grosseteste University, Lincoln, England, professor, head of research, director of Centre for Education for Social Justice, emeritus research professor; University of East London, London, England, professor. Zaman University, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, visiting research fellow.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Mike Cole is a British writer and educator. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Open University, a master’s degree from Sussex University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Essex, all of which are located in England. Early in his career, Cole served as a senior lecturer at the University of Brighton. He later joined Bishop Grosseteste University, in Lincoln, England. Cole began as a professor and later took on the roles of head of research for the school and director of its Centre for Education for Social Justice. His current title is emeritus research professor. Cole has also served as a professor at the University of East London and a visiting research fellow at Zaman University, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Among the key topics of Cole’s research are education, Marxism, and racism. He has written and edited books on these topics, alone or with a partner, including Critical Race Theory and Education: A Marxist Response and Constructing Twenty-First Century Socialism in Latin America: The Role of Radical Education.
Racism: A Critical Analysis was released in 2016. In this volume, Cole focuses on racism in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. He includes three case studies that illustrate how racism works in these nations. In the book’s first chapter, Cole discusses theories on racism and highlights the social nature of its origins. He goes on to explain the main tenets of Marxism and to outline three of its offshoots. Cole devotes a section to critical race theory. The first of the case studies in the book focuses on British racism. It examines British people’s treatment of poor immigrant workers who have come to the country in recent years. Many of the immigrants in question are Muslim. The second case study analyzes racism against blacks, Latinos, Native Americans, Muslims, and Asians in the United States. The case study on Australia looks primarily at the ways in which white Australians have treated Aborigines over the years. It also contains discussion on white Australians’ attitudes toward Asians, Jews, Muslims, and the Irish.
Garret Pierman, contributor to Marx and Philosophy online, offered a favorable assessment of Racism. Pierman suggested: “The analyses and accompanying theory sections are written with a thoughtfulness and clarity that make the material accessible not only to seasoned academics, but also junior scholars and students. Overall, the reader is left with a richer understanding of the history of racism.” Pierman added that the book “presents a clear introduction to the relevant fields of Marxist thought that situates itself as an entry into critical race scholarship. The three cases presented help the reader understand how the historical processes of empire and domestic expansions, as well as the explosion of global capitalism, have made and continue to make impacts on racism today. The American case could be better examined in terms of non-color coded racism, but this is a small blemish on an otherwise interesting, clear, and thoughtful piece of scholarship.”
In a review of the book appearing in the Journal of Intercultural Studies, Ben Debney asserted: “Mike Cole’s Racism: A Critical Analysis can have hardly come at a better time.” However, Debney noted that Cole does not devote enough of the book to examining class in relation to racism. Debney stated: “In an otherwise robust work that examines racism and xenophobia in such a broad context, more analysis in this area would have aided the discussion immensely, helping to tie different manifestations of the common theme together as indicative of a pattern.” Debney concluded the review by describing Racism as “a well-timed work with patently obvious value to anyone concerned with social justice issues.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Journal of Intercultural Studies, Volume 37, number 6, 2016, Ben Debney, review of Racism: A Critical Analysis, pp. 655-656.
ONLINE
Huffington Post, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ (April 24, 2017), author profile.
Marx and Philosophy, https://marxandphilosophy.org.uk/ (March 21, 2016), Garrett Pierman, review of Racism.
University of East London Web site, https://www.uel.ac.uk/ (April 24, 2017), author profile.
Zaman University Web site, https://rcss.zamanu.edu.kh/ (April 24, 2017), author profile.
Mike Cole is a .2 Professor in Education, and is also an Emeritus Research Professor in Education and Equality at Bishop Grosseteste University. His duties at UEL include research and publications, PhD supervision and occasional doctoral and undergraduate teaching
Professor in Education at the University of East London, London, UK
Emeritus Research Professor at Bishop Grosseteste University, Lincoln, UK
Professor Mike Cole's education qualifications include Certificate in Education; Bachelor of Arts (1st Class Hons.) Open University; Master of Arts, Sussex University; Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Essex.
His main research areas are:
Racism in the UK, the US and Australia
The relationship between Critical Race Theory and Marxism within educational theory
Racism and education
Marxism and educational theory
Twenty-first century socialism in Venezuela
Before joining UEL, Professor Cole was Professor in Education and Equality and subsequently Head of Research and Director of the Centre for Education for Social Justice at Bishop Grosseteste University. Prior to that, Professor Cole was a Senior Lecturer in Education at the University of Brighton.
His most recent books are Constructing Twenty-First Century Socialism in Latin America: The Role of Radical Education (co-written with Sara Motta), Education and Social Change in Latin America (co-edited with Sara Motta) and Racism and Education in the UK and the US: Towards a Socialist Alternative. All are published by Palgrave Macmillan, New York.
Mike Cole
Professor in Education, University of East London
Dr Mike Cole is Professor in Education, University of East London, Emeritus Research
Professor in Education and Equality, Bishop Grosseteste University, Lincoln and Visiting
Research Fellow, Center for Social Sciences, Zaman University, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. His
latest books are Racism: A Critical Analysis (Pluto, 2015), Racism and Education in the UK and the US: Towards a Socialist Alternative (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011) and Critical Race Theory and Education: a Marxist Response (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009).
N/A
QUOTED: "the analyses and accompanying theory sections are written with a thoughtfulness and clarity that make the material accessible not only to seasoned academics, but also junior scholars and students. Overall, the reader is left with a richer understanding of the history of racism."
"Racism: A Critical Analysis presents a clear introduction to the relevant fields of Marxist thought as situates itself as an entry into critical race scholarship. The three cases presented help the reader understand how the historical processes of empire and domestic expansions, as well as the explosion of global capitalism, have made and continue to make impacts on racism today. The American case could be better examined in terms of non-color coded racism, but this is a small blemish on an otherwise interesting, clear, and thoughtful piece of scholarship."
Mike Cole
Racism: A Critical Analysis
Pluto Press, London, 2015. 264pp., £19.99 pb
ISBN 9780745334714
Reviewed by Garrett Pierman
5
Comment on this review
About the reviewer
Garrett Pierman
Garrett Pierman is a PhD student at Florida International University in Miami, Florida. His research focuses on poststructural analysis of economies of power and ideologies. Additionally, he considers the ways in which states can make foreign policy in a world in which borders are becoming less clear.
More...
Review
Cole, in his clearly written and well researched Racism: A Critical Analysis, accomplishes two main goals. The primary goal of the work, as the title suggests, is an analysis of the history of racism in three Anglophone countries: the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia. Secondly, Cole devotes substantial effort to a section which serves as an introduction to and situation of critical race theory. Toward the primary end, the book breaks interesting academic ground by adding to the usual story of color-coded racism in the three nations, notions of race that go beyond color as such; and, importantly, it explores some of the most explosive topics of today’s politics: Islamophobia, and the recognition of the Anglo world’s treatment of the native populations on both the Australian and North American continents. Despite the book’s relatively complex subject matter, the analyses and accompanying theory sections are written with a thoughtfulness and clarity that make the material accessible not only to seasoned academics, but also junior scholars and students. Overall, the reader is left with a richer understanding of the history of racism in the three aforementioned nations with an aim at improving lives going forward.
The initial chapter gets much of the theoretical heavy lifting out of the way, which makes for a much easier read of the three case studies that compose the novel contributions of the book. This theoretical section makes few assumptions on the knowledge of the reader and explains racism as a social construction which is often done by the process of racialization. Following this, clear explanations of Marxism, including its neo-, humanist, and structuralist varieties are provided, which serve to give a sense of this particular strand of philosophical thought without bogging the reader down in unnecessary jargon and situating the book within the broader field of Marxist thought. Finally, critical race theory is given a somewhat lengthier treatment, which is understandable given that the book is, indeed, a work of critical race theory. While the book is primarily a set of three case studies, some of the praise of the work must be placed squarely upon the theory section. As an introduction to Marxism in several of its flavors as well as critical race theory as an extension of Marx’s thinking, the initial section could stand alone as a well-crafted pamphlet on the topic. The chapter provides useful introductions to the topic, gives the reader the necessary language to read the rest of the book and engage in meaningful discourse on the subject matter and, just as important, points interested parties to the primary works of theory.
The cases begin with a study of the United Kingdom; in which the histories of race and class tensions, Cole argues convincingly, cannot be meaningfully disentangled. Along similar lines, the oft-repeated story of British racism as something of an outgrowth of the sometimes violent and usually repressive experiences of British China and Hong Kong in the nineteenth century make an appearance here. What is new in Cole’s work is the focus on postwar Britain, with the influx of poor migrant labor in the years immediately after the war and the most recent arrival of poor immigrants, many of them Muslim. His argument, that race has been and continues to be a mask for and component of larger class struggles in the British context, is both compelling and consistent with the Marxist focus of the work. A point by point analysis of the rise of UKIP in this context provides interesting reading, especially for foreign audiences. The chapter concludes considering the idea that racism in modern Britain is essentially the attempt of the bourgeoisie to keep the proletariat divided and bickering over everything from football to Islam. This claim makes clear the conceptual links between the British case and the previous theoretical chapter and provides much food for thought. Of special interest is that this chapter begins a major theme of the work, understanding racism against different groups as part of a broader scheme of racist and classist phenomena rather than as unique events that are simply to be understood historically. This more structural understanding provides scholars with more conceptual tools with which to understand the patterns of behavior that we are wont to act against.
A second substantive chapter focuses on the United States. The chapter attempts to break the black/white binary of popular discourse on race in the United States and provides histories of the often violent repression of Native Americans as well as considering the immigrant experiences of Latino/as, Asians, and, focusing on the post 9/11 period, Muslims. Similar economic arguments are made in this chapter when comparing to the English case; it is the ruling classes that, more or less deliberately, exploit race as a dividing factor for economic gain. This argument is perhaps an easier sell in the American context, given the history of economic justifications for slavery in the South as well as the Indian Removal Act and the exploitation of immigrant labor. Similarly, the increasingly white nationalist tone of certain elements within American politics, as well as continued episodes of violence along racial lines, make the presence of racism in America less tricky to uncover than in the British case. One major fault of the chapter is the seeming lack of coverage on the non-color-coded racism that the United States has experienced, such as that experienced by Irish and Italian immigrants in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This omission is somewhat puzzling given that many of the same injustices we see now against African Americans were at one point perpetrated against the Irish; including the stories of these groups would only strengthen the argument of the book as a whole and ought to be included in any future editions.
A final case, Australia, focuses on the legalized maltreatment of the Aborigines, which is a much under-developed subject of scholarship within the field of political theory, and thus it is a relief to see it done justice here. In fact, a summary provided serves as an introductory history of the settler colonialism conducted in Australia, bringing the reader up to speed on what is almost certainly new to most readers. Sticking to the critical race theory framework, Cole makes the connection between the colonial experience and the poverty experienced by the Aboriginal population today, an argument strongly paralleled in the American and British cases. The section on anti-Asian racism makes the process of othering exceedingly clear along the lines of color, resulting in demeaning and demoralizing rhetoric toward non-whites. Beyond color-coded racism, Cole makes a special example of the Irish and Jews being considered as inferior whites, making the lack of such a section in the American chapter all the more puzzling. Finally, the growth of anti-Muslim racism is catalogued.
Concluding, the author notes several troubling trends, such as the failure of multiculturalism and the seeming tenacity with which racism maintains itself in the Anglophone world. Additionally, the Islamophobic trends found in all three cases, which seems to be building in the American context as this reviewer writes, gives some cause for alarm. And alarmed we should be, as the author makes clear in his final words. This alarm ought to be tempered with the knowledge that we can, and should, include matters of race into intellectual and practical struggles.
Racism: A Critical Analysis presents a clear introduction to the relevant fields of Marxist thought as situates itself as an entry into critical race scholarship. The three cases presented help the reader understand how the historical processes of empire and domestic expansions, as well as the explosion of global capitalism, have made and continue to make impacts on racism today. The American case could be better examined in terms of non-color coded racism, but this is a small blemish on an otherwise interesting, clear, and thoughtful piece of scholarship.
21 March 2016
QUOTED: "Mike Cole’s Racism: A Critical Analysis can have hardly come at a better time."
"In an otherwise robust work that examines racism and xenophobia in such a broad context, more analysis in this area would have aided the discussion immensely, helping to tie different manifestations of the common theme together as indicative of a pattern."
"a well-timed work with patently obvious value to anyone concerned with social justice issues."
Racism: A Critical Analysis
, by Mike Cole and Thomas Lacroix, London, Pluto Press,2015, 248 pp., USD$32.00 (paperback), USD$115.00 (cloth), ISBN: 9780745334714
Mike Cole
’
s
Racism: A Critical Analysis
can have hardly come at a better time. As the globalrate of pro
t declines in accordance with the increasing scarcity of Cheap Natures (JasonW. Moore) and the crisis of neoliberal capitalism becomes increasingly acute, the hunt for sca-pegoats, especially in Western countries, becomes increasingly frenzied. This seems to explainthe increasing willingness of many amongst the political class and the corporate media toembrace the more ugly and brutal strains of racism and white supremacist ideology thathave been a feature of settler colonial societies, such as Australia, from the outset. Giventhat this is the case, comprehensive critical analysis of the phenomenon is more importantthan ever.Cole
’
s treatment of racism properly addresses multiple manifestations of racism in the US,the UK and Australia, arguing sensibly that
‘
in order to understand and combat racism, wemust relate racism and racialization to historical, economic and political factors
’
(14). He elab-orates on this as a key idea informing
Racism
by quoting Robert Miles, who wrote that
‘
theprocess of racialization cannot be understood without a conception of, and explanation forthe complex interplay of different modes of production, and in particular, of the socialrelations necessarily established in the course of material production
’
(14). In the name of pur-suing such an understanding Cole compares and contrasts examples in each of these settings inthis manner, his analysis also incorporating perspectives from Louis Althusser and AntonioGramsci and takes into account additional factors and variables such as the role and signi
-cance of approaches not speci
cally Marxist, such as Critical Race Theory andIntersectionality.Cole
’
s approach in this respect is to examine the tension between what he describes as
‘
humanist Marxism
’
and
‘
structuralist Marxism
’
, which emphasize
‘
the power of the humanwill in breaking through the structures of capitalist society
’
versus the latter, which
‘
remindus of how powerful these constraining structures are
’
. His use of Althusser and Gramsci indrawing out the meaning of these two approaches is particularly helpful to break downwhat might be regarded as some of the more deterministic or even doctrinaire aspects of Marxist thought insofar as the Gramscian concept of
‘
common sense
’
(as opposed to goodsense) re
ects the fact, as the ideological hegemony of the ruling class in a capitalist society
‘
is not automatic but achieved through conscious political action and organisation
’
(11).This
nding seems consistent with what others who have published recently on persecutory narratives and policies have been saying
–
not least of whom being Silvia Federici, whosework on the European Witch Hunts reveals the social changes wrought through misogyny and religious bigotry to be of a similar nature.While Cole
’
s approach in this respect forms the basis for a comprehensive and otherwisemuch-needed critique of racist histories and policies in Western countries, it is somewhatincoherent to the extent that it points to the need to break down the subjective appeal of racism to the white working class in particular, and then seems to deprioritize that analysisin favour of truisms like
‘
Capitalism is dependent on racism as a source of pro
teering (ingeneral appropriating more surplus value from racialised workers) and as a means of
“
divide and rule
”
, driving a wedge between non-racialised and racialised workers
’
(21).What for example is the appeal for the white working class in buying into racist narrativesover organizing in solidarity with members of their class from different backgrounds? Inexamining this question,
Racism: A Critical Analysis
almost completely ignores the criticalcontributions of whiteness studies beyond passing references. Classic works like Edward
Said
’
s
Orientalism
, which might have aided the critique of settler colonialism in societies likethe US, Australia and New Zealand substantially, do not receive suf
cient attention.If racism is a white person problem, or more speci
cally a white working class status anxiety problem, then surely critical analysis of racism needs to balance critique of racist policies andinstitutional structures with the discriminatory subjectivities of the white working class. DavidRoediger
’
s
Wages of Whiteness
is a major recent contribution to studies of racism whoseimportance derives speci
cally from its capacity to address the above question; ditto CherylHarris
’
s
‘
Whiteness as Property
’
, an in
uential article in the
Harvard Law Review
. WhileCole properly argues that what tends to be lacking from critiques of racism is the failure totreat them as a scapegoating mechanism in terms of
‘
the role of capitalist institutions in pro-tecting their power base
’
(8), the class analysis of racism as a function of scapegoating is not perse suf
cient explanation for its authoritarian dynamics. This is particularly signi
cant wheredemonizing and stereotyping of enemies becomes the basis for victim-blaming, playing of the victim and guilt by association (
‘
if you question xenophobic illogic and think for yourself the terrorists win
’
and so on). In an otherwise robust work that examines racism and xenopho-bia in such a broad context, more analysis in this area would have aided the discussion immen-sely, helping to tie different manifestations of the common theme together as indicative of apattern.
Racism: A Critical Analysis
certainly points in this direction, though one
nds it dif
cult toavoid the conclusion that the neglect of a more robust discussion of the authoritarian modal-ities of racist ideology is due at least in part to a reluctance to re
ect on the meaning and sig-ni
cance of authoritarian psychology, one that derives perhaps from the authoritarian traitswithin Leninism. To the extent that this is the case, the conservatism of that aspect of Marxist thinking represents a constraining force. Not that this precludes
Racism: A Critical Analysis
from being a well-timed work with patently obvious value to anyone concernedwith social justice issues
–
it simply means that the readings of the other texts referred toabove still remain to be accounted for. With Mike Cole
’
s timely contribution we are a stepcloser to a complete picture.