Black resistance to British policing

by Adam Elliott-Cooper

As police racism unsettles Britain’s tolerant self-image, Black resistance to British policing details the activism that made movements like Black Lives Matter possible. Elliott-Cooper analyses racism beyond prejudice and the interpersonal – arguing that black resistance confronts a global system of racial classification, exploitation and violence.

Imperial cultures and policies, as well as colonial war and policing highlight connections between these histories and contemporary racisms. But this is a book about resistance, considering black liberation movements in the 20th century while utilising a decade of activist research covering spontaneous rebellion, campaigns and protest in the 21st century. Drawing connections between histories of resistance and different kinds of black struggle against policing is vital, it is argued, if we are to challenge the cutting edge of police and prison power which harnesses new and dangerous forms of surveillance, violence and criminalisation.

Genres: Nonfiction, Race, History, Politics, Sociology, British Literature

240 pages, Paperback

Published May 1, 2021

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read which details post colonial policing in UK and incorporates social policy and analysis of several details of Racist and discriminative policies and actions of Police and Government.

[Sarah Jaffe · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sharp and necessary look at how colonial histories shape today's state violence, and how communities organize to resist. Especially thoughtful on questions of gender and how and why women so often do the caring work of making movements.

[Esme Kemp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well fuck yes. Yes to all 191 pages.
At times felt like wading through the thick mud of a doctorate thesis written by someone who is exponentially more smart than you, but then u pull your welly out of the mud and find yourself in a clear pool of radical abolitionist police & prison reform, and the sun comes out and the prisons are closed down and replaced with community led-organisations, provision of secure housing, and the decriminalisation of drugs and substances. Then you leave ur wellies stuck in the mud along with the entire London metropolitan police department and skip off into the sun. The end x

[readingwithjaney · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an amazing, well-written book that taught me a great deal. Over the years I have learned about the link between police brutality and racism in the United States through books and media, but I didn’t feel like I knew much about it in the United Kingdom before reading this. Thank you so much to my friend Nasra who recommended and lent me this book. I learned a lot about specific cases of murder and incarceration of Black people in the United Kingdom and how the way the police system is run is directly related to systemic racism. I learned a lot and I look forward to learning more. I would absolutely recommend this book. (PS Nasra, I need to give you this book back xx)

[Jardelle Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rating of the writing rather than the ideology - it was a little too undergrad thesis (“in this essay I will”…”in this essay I have”). Some of the links to colonialism felt a little forced and I didn’t love that there were end notes rather than footnotes (to make it easier to check sources) but I did really value the new information I gained about British policing (particularly in a world that tends to focus on US policing).

[IP.]

Very important and informative book but could benefit from a 2nd edition. The writing was a little too academic and lacked clarity at times. It was also more about British policing than about Black resistance to it. Sometimes I couldn't tell what theses Elliott-Cooper was trying to offer because the writing was unclear. I still think it is an important read and recommend it, especially if it gets that 2nd edition!

[Harry Ashcroft · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely important read. Highly recommend

[TayoWrites · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have a few finicky frustrations but generally this book eats, comprehensive but also personal but also real comprehensible

[Leni Dytrych · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really disliked the language used towards the Police in this. I found it very discriminatory and one-sided

[Mari C.L. Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Worded so well!

“While canteen and locker-room cultures are often racist, chauvinistic spaces in which these stereotypes are nourished, this bigotry is the outcome, rather than the source, of racism. Black people are not categorised as gangsters because senior police officers sit in dimly lit rooms consciously inventing new racialised crimes. Rather it is the normal functioning of police as an institution, following every procedure and policy, that produces racist outcomes.

Importantly, state racism is embedded in policing because racism has been fundamental to British governance for centuries rather than just decades. Racism did not arrive in Britain with colonial migrants; it was exported by Britain to its colonies over centuries of expansion, control and conflict. Reaching back into Britain’s colonial past is therefore vital to understanding the production of today’s ‘common sense’, which racialises crime as a seemingly natural reflex.”

[Eolann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting and sharply argued, outlining how post world II British policing, particularly against black people, is informed and built on older colonial dynamics of racism and violence, and also how black resistance to police violence is also happening in the wake of a longer legacy of anti colonial efforts. I would have appreciated a section about the longer history of domestic British policing prior to world war II, and the violence that often went with this, but otherwise found this to be engaging and insightful.

[Eurethius Péllitièr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written in the subjective and analytical, easy to read and necessary. This book reintroduces difficult and often obfuscated topics in race discourse with concision and clarity, while documenting the violence of policing and resistance to it.

[Jodie · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Abolition is not just an alternative to policing, it is a practice of care against police violence which is embedded in the everyday"

[DaN McKee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential reading for all in the UK who think racist police violence is a uniquely American phenomenon.

[Zihannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Will be recommending this book to everyone I know,
insightful, relevant & thought provoking