The Journal of the European Research Centre on Migration and Ethnic Relations

Volume 21 Number 4 October 1995

Contents:

Articles:

• Rob Witte, `Racist violence in Western Europe' [Abstract]
• Helmut Willems, `Right-wing extremism, racism or youth violence? Explaining violence against foreigners in Germany' [Abstract]
• Sophie Body-Gendrot `Urban Violence: a quest for meaning' [Abstract]
• Serge Govaert, `Flander's radical nationalism: how and why the Vlaams Blok ascended' [Abstract]
• Michael Keith, `Making the street visible: placing racial violence in context' [Abstract]
• Brian Holland, `Kicking Racism out of football: an assessment of racial harassment in and around football grounds' [Abstract]
• Stacey Burlet and Helen Reid, `Cooperation and conflict: the South Asian diaspora after Ayodhya' [Abstract]

Review essay

• Peter Rose, `South-central Los Angeles: reaping the whirlwind'
  

Rob Witte, `Racist violence in Western Europe':

This article compares and discusses various various aspects of racist violence in European countries. These include the different definitions and perceptions employed in various countries, and the implications of these for research, response and measures implemented to combat the violence; the victimised communities, discussions about perpetrators; and responses by authorities to racist violence. Research into the phenomenon of racist violence is relatively recent in most European countries. The need for European comparative analysis is stressed as local/national studies turn out to be restricted to those elements of the violence receiving most attention in mainstream political discourse. International comparison can broaden issue and illuminate new and alternative ways of combatting racist violence.

Helmut Willems, `Right-wing extremism, racism or youth violence? Explaining violence against foreigners in Germany':

Acts of violence against foreigners, which increased dramatically between 1991 and 1993 in Germany, have triggered an intense discussion about racism, right-wing extremism and counter-culture youth violence. But this discussion has frequently been conducted without regard for the empirical data. This article sets out to bring some of this data into the discourse.
Representive opinion polls are employed to show that there is no detectable increase in hostile or ethnocentric attitudes towards foreigners in the German population which could explain the rise of anti-foreigner violence in the early 1990s. Police data on the biographical and socio-demographic characteristics of the perpetrators are analysed to demonstrate that the groups of anti-immigrant and anti-foreigner activists are too heterogeneous to be sweepingly labelled as racists or right-wing extremists. It is emphasised that a specific historial constellation (new vawes of immigration; disorientation after German unification) and a sequence of escalating interactions - between police, political parties, segments of the population, the media, right-wing extremists, violence-prone youth groups - have led to an unexpected emergence of violence against foreigners.

Sophie Body-Gendrot, `Urban violence: a quest for meaning':

Urban `violence' is interpreted in its sociological sense and as an interplay between stereotyped representations and the reality that `dangerous classes' experience in their environment.. Why is the city referred to as a dangerous place? Assumptions are made about: the selective coverage of the media which increases feelings of insecurity and movements of privatization and retreat; the impact of hasty and cheap urban design devaluing people's identity; the consequences of territorial isolation and of social exclusion. External dynamics and larger processes moulding the context which interacts on vulnerable populations' trajectories and on specific urban areas' development are then analysed. Finally, violence in French inner-cities and the Los Angeles riots of 1992 illustrate problematic (and sometimes innovative) forms of urban violence.

Serge Govaert, `Flander's radical nationalism: how and why the Vlaams Blok ascended':

Unlike most West European countries, a nationalist party has been represented in the Belgian parliament for over 40 years. This body, the Volksunie, has at one stage held the position of being the third party in Flanders. During the 1980s, when nationalist parties gathered strength in other parts of Europe, the radical right nationalism in Flanders did not anchor itself to the existing Volksunie. Instead, the Volksunie's first electoral successes spurred into existence a a new party, the Vlaams Blok.
After a slow start, the Vlaams Blok overtook the Volksunie in 1991. By 1995, it has won the support of over 12 per cent of the Flemish voters. The two nationalist parties together account for almost 20 per cent of the Flemish votes. Unlike the Volksunie, the Vlaams Blok holds radical views on issues such as migrant workers, political refugees, the status of Islam, the defence of family values. Its electoral successes can so some extent be compared to those of pre-war Flemish nationalist parties such as the Vlaams Nationaal Verbond (VNV). They also reflect, however, specific current Belgian situations including the competition with the Volksunie; the relative weakness of extreme right-wing parties in the French- speaking part of the country and last but not least, the aspirations of a particularist element of the voting population.

Michael Keith, `Making the street visible: placing racial violence in context':

This article presents original survey data on differences between Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, Sikhs anhis article suggests that in attempting to generalise from the specific there is a danger that academic analysis of a subject such as `racial violence' suppresses the significance of the context in which `racial' antagonisms develop. The article examines the manner in which a vocubulary of urban space, drawing in particular on the rhetoric and realities of `the streets', is useful in understanding the horrific events of late 1993 and 1994 in the East End of London.
In part this demonstrates the interdependence of processes of representation and practises of mobilisation in the development of the new public spaces of the city. The streets of the East End are the simultaneous product of struggles of resistance, local political cultures, a particular articulation of a post-industrial political- economy and urban myths of gang violence. As both a privileged metaphor informing popular knowledge and the site of adolescent socialisation the streets are rendered visible in particular debates about mainstream politics. `community' and gang violence. In this sense both academically and ethnically there is a need to eschew any crude distinction between the `metaphoric' and the `real' streets of the East End. Images and icons of East End life are as significant in informing the practises of institutions of the welfare state as are the actions of groups and individuals at any moment in time. It also demonstrates that an understanding of contemporary racism dependes on the development of an interpretative framework that is sensitive to the `historicity' and `spatiality' of racial conflict. Anti-racist practise needs to confront simultaneously the representational practises which normalise bigoted understanding of cultures as well as the institutional forms and economic forces which draw on and amplify processes of criminalisation and racialised deprivation.

Brian Holland, `Kicking racism out of football': an assessment of racial harassment in and around football grounds':

In August 1993 the Commission for Racial Equality launched a campaign to challenge racism in football. This article provides some background to the issue based on research carried out between 1989 and 1994. It is suggested that the source of such racism has been a neglected issue, despite its very public profile. It is argued that the racial abuse and chanting that surfaces on the football terraces are examples of racial harassment. It is harassment that extends beyond the terraces and particularly impinges on the life of ethnic minority residents living in the vicinity of football grounds. The research gathered evidence from three locations - Leeds, Newcastle and Bolton - to assess the extent to which ethnic minorities, both as players and residents, were being disproportionately affected by this harassment and introduces the concept of 'burden of abuse'. Some historical background is provided and football stadia are considered as key symbolic sites where a basic white working class racism has found expression. The public policy implications are also considered and particularly the use of the 1991 Football (Offences) Act. Recommendations for action and future research are offered at the conclusion.

Stacey Burlet and Helen Reid, `Cooperation and conflict: the South Asian diaspora after Ayodhya':

This article examines the potential for both cooperation and conflict between South Asian diaspora communities in Europe. It will achieve this by focusing on the reaction of Hindu and Muslim communities to the events surrounding the Babri Masjid/Ram Janambhoomi at Ayodhya, India in December 1992. The article will provide information about the conflict in India and its global repercussions. For a European perspective, a case study of community responses in Bradford, Britain will be outlined. This will include an examination of the sources of information which helped to form local community opinions about the events and an explanation of how these interpretations have contributed to the longer-term trend of politicising Hindus and Muslims as separate communities. By exploring a particular incident where diaspora communities have perceived themselves to be in conflict, the article hopes to provide an example of why policy-makers must treat the issue of religion and cultural heritage as sensitively as ethnicity, gender and class.