Building the Anti-Racist University

In the new arena for anti-racist work in which we find ourselves, the neo-liberal, ‘post-race’ university, this interdisciplinary collection demonstrates common global political concerns about racism in Higher Education. It highlights a range of issues regarding students, academic staff and knowledge systems, and all of the contributions seek to challenge the complacency of the ‘post-race’ present that is dominant in North-West Europe and North America, Brazil’s mythical ‘racial democracy’ and South Africa’s post-apartheid ‘rainbow nation’. The collection makes clear that we are not yet past the need for anti-racist institutional action because of the continuing impact of coloniality on and in these nations. From within the colonial psyche which still exists in the 21st century these nations actively deracinate politics, subjectivities, political economy and affective relationalities when they re-imagine themselves to be ‘post-race’ states where all citizens can have a share in the good life because now only class matters. Universities have also taken on the mantle of upholding societal ‘post-race’ status through ineffective equality and diversity policies and strategies. The collection makes the case for the urgent need to decolonize the university in ‘post-race’, neoliberal times through a focus on institutional racism in HEIs in Canada, Brazil, South Africa, the UK and the USA. As such it addresses institutional whiteness; the transformation of organizational cultures; the presence and experiences of Black people, People of Colour and Indigenous people in HEIs; the development of curriculum interventions; widening participation and organizational change; and future directions for racial equality and diversity in a ‘post-race’ era. This book was originally published as a special issue of Race Ethnicity and Education.