Anti-Racism and Anti-Fascism: Then and Now – A Reading List

We are shocked and appalled by the racist, Islamophobic and fascist violence of recent weeks. This violence is the result of anti-migrant, Islamophobic and racist narratives which present asylum seekers, migrants, Muslims and Global Majority people as the cause for today’s economic and social difficulties. Politicians from all parties have promoted these narratives and, in many cases, used them to win votes, supported by many media outlets.

While we don’t want to minimise the seriousness of events nor to dismiss the legitimate fears of Muslims and Global Majority people, we believe it’s important to recognise that communities have a long history of resistance and taking care of each other – this is evident in our archives. Just as our collections document racism in its many forms; they also document the long and unbroken histories of anti-racist and anti-fascist activity, and of community resistance and resilience. We can see this continuation in the ways local communities have counter-demonstrated and gathered to show solidarity in recent days.

Through the reading list we have collated below, drawn from our library collections, we wish to share some items that we feel will offer hope and sustenance, and demonstrate an alternative to Islamophobia, racism and fascism. They will also hopefully work to answer, in some part, the following questions: How have communities organised to resist racism and fascism, both in the past and present? What has it meant to be anti-racist? What does it mean now? How can active solidarity be practiced, especially by those not directly at the sharp end of racism and fascism?

You can find these books and others like them in the RACE Centre Library on the Lower Ground Floor of Manchester Central Library. We send our love and solidarity to our friends and partners who are being particularly targeted, and we take strength and hope from the communities who are standing together in resistance to this violence.


Here to Stay, Here to Fight: A ‘Race Today’ Anthology – eds. by Paul Field, Robin Bunce, Leila Hassan & Margaret Peacock (2019) [PO.1.02/FIE]

From 1973 to 1988, Race Today, the journal of the revolutionary Race Today Collective was at the epicentre of the struggle for racial justice in Britain. Placing race, sex and social class at the core of its analysis, it featured in its articles and pamphlets’ contributions from some of the leading writers and activists of the time. This title draws together many of these key articles and extracts into an impressive collection – the first book-length anthology of its kind – rescuing many contributions from the obscurity of inaccessible archives.

The Shoulders We Stand On: How Black and Brown People Fought for Change in the United Kingdom – Preeti Dhillon (2023) [HI.1.05/DHI]

The UK is grappling with big questions about belonging, equality, and the legacies of Empire and Colonialism. We’ve been here before. Embracing a broader history that encompasses all British people, The Shoulders We Stand On is fundamental to a better understanding of the past and gives many more people who fought for our future a voice in the present.

Have you heard of the Indian Workers’ Association? The Grunwick Strike? The Brixton Black Women’s Group? The Battle of Brick Lane? If the answer is no, you’re not alone. This title tells the stories of ten remarkable movements, campaigns and organisations led by Black and Brown people across Britain from the 1960s to the 1980s that fought against racism and capitalism and impacted the way we live now.

The Feminist Bookstore Movement: Lesbian Antiracism and Feminist Accountability – Kristen Hogan (2016) [GE.1.01/HOG]

From the 1970s through the 1990s more than one hundred feminist bookstores built a transnational network that helped shape some of feminism’s most complex conversations. Kristen Hogan traces the feminist bookstore movement’s rise and eventual fall, restoring its radical work to public feminist memory. The bookwomen at the heart of this story, mostly lesbians and including women of the Global Majority, measured their success not by profit, but by developing theories and practices of lesbian antiracism and feminist accountability.

Carnival: A Photographic and Testimonial History of the Notting Hill Carnival – eds. by edited by Ishmahil Blagrove, Jr. (2004) [CU.3.01/CAR]

Carnival – A Photographic and Testimonial History of the Notting Hill Carnival tells the inspirational story of how this world-renowned event came to be and how it grew, dispelling many of the myths that have circulated over the years and pieces together the fascinating personal accounts of those who created it.

Contemporary British Fascism: The British National Party and the Quest for Legitimacy – Nigel Copsey (2004) [CR.4.01/COP]

This book offers an in-depth study of the far-right political party, the British National Party (BNP) and its efforts to achieve social and political legitimacy. Founded in 1982 and led by John Tyndall until 1999, Copsey begins by thoroughly investigating Tyndall’s BNP. The author then moves on to discuss the ‘modernisation’ strategy of Tyndall’s successor, Nick Griffin, as well as the factors that facilitated the party’s electoral successes during the early years of the twenty-first century.

White Tears/Brown Scars: How White Feminism Betrays Women of Colour – Ruby Hamad (2020) [GE.1.01/HAM]

White tears possess a potency that is rarely acknowledged or commented upon, but they have long been used as a dangerous and insidious tool against people of the Global Majority, weaponised in order to invoke sympathy and divert blame. In this explosive book of historical and cultural criticism, Ruby Hammad reveals the ways in which white feminism has been used as a weapon of white supremacy and patriarchy deployed against Black and Indigenous women and women of the Global Majority. This book tells a charged story of white women’s active participation in campaigns of oppression. It offers a long-overdue validation of the experiences of women of the Global Majority and an urgent call-to-arms in the need for true intersectionality.

What is racism? – Katie Daynes & Jordan Akpojaro (2021) [0-5 YEARS, JUN/DAY

Answering young children’s questions about racism is hard. This book gives both children and adults the language and sensitivity they need to talk about the topic. It gently explains what racism is, how it happens, why it is never acceptable and what each and every one of us can do to eradicate it.

Tangled in Terror: Uprooting Islamophobia – Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan (2022) [CU.5.01/MAN]

Islamophobia is everywhere. It is a narrative and history woven so deeply into our everyday lives that we don’t even notice it – in our education, how we travel, our healthcare, legal system and at work. Behind the scenes, it affects the most vulnerable, at the border and in prisons. Despite this, the conversation about Islamophobia is relegated to microaggressions and slurs. Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan reveals how Islamophobia not only lives under the skin of those who it marks, but is an international political project designed to divide people in the name of security, in order to materially benefit global stakeholders.

How to Argue with a Racist: History, Science, Race and Reality – Adam Rutherford (2020) [CU.6/RUT]

Race is real because we perceive it. Racism is real because we enact it. But the appeal to science to strengthen racist ideologies is on the rise – and increasingly part of the public discourse on politics, migration, education, sport and intelligence. How To Argue with a Racist is a vital manifesto for a twenty-first century understanding of human evolution and variation, and a timely weapon against the misuse of science to justify bigotry.

Bringing Up Race: How to Raise a Kind Child in a Prejudiced World – Uju Asika (2020) [CU.6/ASI]

Racism cuts across all sectors of society. This book is for everyone who wants to instil a sense of open-minded inclusivity in their kids, and those who want to discuss difference instead of shying away from tough questions. Uju Asika draws on often shocking personal stories of prejudice along with opinions of experts, influencers and fellow parents to give prescriptive advice making this an invaluable guide.

What is Antiracism? And Why It Means Anticapitalism – Arun Kundnani (2023) [CU.6/KUN]

What is ‘racial capitalism’ and how do we overcome it? This book argues that we misunderstand contemporary capitalism if we miss the centrality of racism to neoliberalism. From David Harvey to Wendy Brown, the leading scholars of neoliberalism’s rise treat racism as an ornamental feature of recent capitalist politics – an ugly ornament, to be sure, but not one that is central to neoliberalism. In crisp, accessible prose and via descriptions of some key moments of modern history in the US (like the Black Power movement) and the UK (like Enoch Powell’s introduction of neoliberal ideas in parliament), Arun Kundnani argues that this misapprehension of the role of race in neoliberalism contributes to the Left’s inability to build a successful movement connecting race and class.

Race to the Bottom: Reclaiming Antiracism – Azfar Shafi and Ilyas Nagdee (2022) [CU.6/SHA]

Antiracist movements are more mainstream than ever before. Liberal democracies boast of their policies designed to stamp out racism in all walks of life. Why then is racism still ever-present in our society? This is not an accident, but by design. Capitalism is structured by racism and has relentlessly attacked powerful movements. Race to the Bottom traces our current crisis back decades, to the fragmentation of Britain’s Black Power movements and their absorption into NGOs and the Labour Party. The authors call for recovering radical histories of antiracist struggle, championing modern activism and infusing them with the urgency of our times: replacing anxieties over ‘unconscious bias’ and rival claims for ‘representation’ with the struggle for a new, socialist, multi-racial organising from below.

Innocent Subjects: Feminism and Whiteness – Terese Jonsson (2021) [GE.1.01/JON]

In a time of intensified global white supremacist and patriarchal violence, anti-racist feminist movements and analyses have never been more vital. Women of the Global Majority are at the forefront of such struggles worldwide – but are white feminists really by their side? Despite a rich history of Black critique of racist and imperial feminist politics, racism still exists within contemporary British feminist movements. To explain why, Terese Jonsson examines the history of feminism over the last forty years. She argues that Black British feminism’s central role in shaping the movement has been marginalised through narratives which repeatedly position white women at the centre of the story, from the women’s liberation movement in the 1960s to today.

Anti-Racist Scholar-Activism – Remi Joseph-Salisbury & Laura Connelly (2021) [PO.7/JOS]

As profound socio-racial crises collide with mass anti-racist mobilisations, this book focuses on the praxes of academics working within, and against, their institutions in pursuit of anti-racist social justice. Amidst a searing critique of the university’s neoliberal and imperial character, Joseph-Salisbury and Connelly situate the university as a contested space, full of contradictions and tensions. Drawing upon original empirical data, they consider how anti-racist scholar-activists navigate barriers and backlash in order to leverage the opportunities and resources of the university in service to communities of resistance.

The Black Friend: On Being a Better White Person – Fredrick Joseph (2021) [YA/JOS]

Speaking directly to the reader, Frederick Joseph offers powerful reflections on his own experiences with racism. As a former ‘token Black kid’, he now presents himself as the friend many readers need, touching on topics including cultural appropriation, ‘reverse racism’ and white privilege. Featuring interviews with figures such as writer, Angie Thomas, content creator, Toni Tone, and April Reign, founder of the #OscarsSoWhite movement, this book serves as conversation starter and tool kit, creating a timely and essential read for committed anti-racists and newcomers to the cause of racial justice alike.

Allies: Real Talk About Showing Up, Screwing Up and Trying Again – eds. by Shakirah Bourne and Dana Alison Levy (2021) [YA/BOU]

Allyship is not a trend. Allyship is a journey, but it’s not always easy to know where to start. See things from a different perspective with heartfelt real-life stories by writers from diverse backgrounds, abilities, and circumstances. Wherever you are in your allyship journey, these stories about what it means to be an ally can empower you to help make the world a better place for everyone. Find out what you can do and take an active role with resources like self-reflective questions, journaling ideas, prompts, and further reading. Be the reason someone feels seen, heard, and supported.

The Good Ally: A Guided Anti-racism Journey from Bystander to Changemaker – Nova Reid (2021) [CU.6/REI]

The Good Ally is an urgent call to arms to become better allies against racism and provides a thoughtful approach, centring collective healing, to do so. It is a book for those against persistent racial injustice, hungry to expand their knowledge and understanding of systematic racism in Britain and beyond. It uncovers the roots of racism and its birthplace, anti-Blackness. It is for those who not only want to be able to better recognise both subtle and overt forms of racism in action, to examine in the powerful role in it, but who want to know what to do about it. The answer often lies within.