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Neo-liberal racism: Excision, ethnicity and the Children and Families Act 2014

Kirton, Derek (2016) Neo-liberal racism: Excision, ethnicity and the Children and Families Act 2014. Critical Social Policy, 36 (4). pp. 469-488. ISSN 0261-0183. E-ISSN 1461-703X. (doi:10.1177/0261018316631890) (KAR id:54376)

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Abstract

This article focuses on the removal in the Children and Families Act 2014 of the so-called ‘ethnicity clause’ relating to adoption. Reviewing the background to the contentious issue of adoption for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic children and the coalition’s drive to increase its scale, the article analyses the discursive resources deployed – especially during the Bill’s passage through Parliament – to justify, oppose or modify the legal change. It is argued that the emergent government policy can be seen as incoherent, even contradictory in relation to ethnicity and its significance and that this can be understood through the competing aims of striking a populist blow against ‘political correctness’ while staving off accusations of being ‘naïve’ (or worse) about race and ethnicity. These developments and debates are also analysed in the context of the growing power of racial neo-liberalism in shaping debates on child welfare.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1177/0261018316631890
Uncontrolled keywords: adoption; neo-liberalism; political correctness; race
Subjects: H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Divisions: Divisions > Division for the Study of Law, Society and Social Justice > School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research
Depositing User: Lisa Towers
Date Deposited: 01 Mar 2016 11:52 UTC
Last Modified: 17 Aug 2022 12:20 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/54376 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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