Racism and Equal Opportunity Policies in the 1980s

This edition, first published in 1989, looks at the problems of racism and equal opportunity in employment and government policies towards them in Britain. It brings together a group of specialist contributors and covers the major areas of debate, including the law, policies towards unemployment, job training and the labour market, the role of the public and private sectors, the role of trade unions, the gap between policies and pronouncements on equal opportunity and their implementation, and the related issue of sectarian discrimination in Northern Ireland. It looks at the future prospects for equal opportunities and provides conclusions for policy. In particular, it aims to address important topics such as the assumptions underlying policies and whether they realistically reflect reality, the actual effect of legislation, and the relationship between power disparities in society as a whole and racial inequality.