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Racial Science and British Society, 1930–62 Gavin Schaffer Racial Science and British Society, 1930–62 This page intentionally left blank Racial Science and British Society, 1930–62 Gavin Schaffer © Gavin Schaffer 2008 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6-10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2008 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN-13: 978–0–230–00892–2 hardback ISBN-10: 0–230–00892–5 hardback This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Schaffer, Gavin, 1976– Racial science and British society, 1930–1962 / Gavin Schaffer. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-10: 0–230–00892–5 (alk. paper) ISBN-13: 978–0–230–00892–2 1. Great Britain–Race relations–History–20th century. 2. Racism–Great Britain–History–20th century. 3. Great Britain–Politics and government– 20th century. 4. World War, 1939–1945–Social aspects–Great Britain. 5. Great Britain–Social policy. I. Title. DA125.A1S33 2008 305.800941’09041–dc22 2008016150 10 17 9 16 8 15 7 14 6 13 5 12 4 11 3 10 2 09 1 08 Printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham and Eastbourne To C.H.T. with love This page intentionally left blank Contents Acknowledgements ix 1 Introduction The end of the race concept Science or society? Who takes the lead? The ‘post 1945’ thesis The meanings of race Deconstructing racial science and British society Race and immigration policy in early twentieth-century Britain 1 1 3 4 6 8 11 2 Rethinking Interwar Racial Reform: the 1930s Four racial field studies Changing methods and changing politics The limits of racial reform before the Second World War Science and society in the 1930s Refuge, race and restriction: Britain and the Jewish refugees from Nazism 15 16 25 39 48 53 3 The Challenge of War: the 1940s Scientists and the wartime racial agenda Scientists versus the state? Enemy aliens and Britain’s black subjects The perilous mission of the believers: protecting the idea of race in the face of Nazism and the Holocaust Sharing the biologists’ uncertainty? The European Volunteer Workers policy after the Second World War 63 63 79 4 5 96 107 Race on the Retreat? The 1950s and 1960s Steppi