HS2O58: Black Britain: Race and Migration in Post-war Britain

Module code: HS2O58

Module provider: History; School of Humanities

Credits: 20

Level: Level 2 (Intermediate)

When you'll be taught: Semester 2

Module convenor: Dr Natalie Thomlinson, email: n.thomlinson@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: Yes

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 21 May 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

This module explores race in post-war Britain. Since the late 1940s, immigration from across the globe has rendered the contemporary United Kingdom a truly multi-cultural society. Partly because of the post-war labour shortage in the UK, and partly because of the poverty and lack of opportunity in many of Britain’s colonies, migrants first from the West Indies (1950s), and increasingly from the Indian subcontinent and Africa (1960s) came in significant numbers, although from the 1960s onwards, a succession of increasingly restrictive immigration acts limited the amount of people arriving. This module will analyse the experiences of migrants. It will examine the political responses of both the white population to migration, and how black communities organised against racism in various civil rights and black power groups. It will ask how black British and ethnic minority identities have developed and explore the politics of blackness in Britain, where, uniquely, many in the Asian community identify as black. Furthermore, it will challenge students to ask how race and ethnicity are discursive constructions rather than biological ‘facts’, how it is that migrants so often came to be posed as a ‘problem’ and examine how such understandings are produced.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. Be aware of differing historiographical interpretations of the pattern and causes of this development
2. Understand how ideas and events are shaped by their historical contexts
3. Organise material and articulate arguments effectively in writing and seminar groups
4. Demonstrate familiarity with bibliographical conventions and mastery of library skills

Module content

Session 1 Black People in Britain before 1945

Session 2 The Windrush Generation: 1948 – 62

Session 3 3 The experience of Asian immigrants in the 1960s and 1970s.

Session 4 The African diaspora in the UK

Session 5 Enoch Powell, 'Rivers of Blood' and white reactions to migration.

Session 6 Black political activism, 1960 – 1980

Session 7 Gender and the black women’s movement

Session 8 Anti-racist activism

Session 9: London’s burning: urban unrest in the 1980s

Session 10: Towards a multicultural society? The 1990s onwards

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

Teaching is by eleven one-hour lectures and eleven two-hour seminars over one semester. Within these, the teaching and learning methods will include:

• Lectures
• Structured group discussions in seminars
• Discussion of evidence, team-based exercises, and debates
• Primary source analysis (textual, aural, visual and textual)
• Independent study of scholarly literature

Study hours

At least 33 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 40% to pass this module

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Reassessment

Additional costs