The Politics of Immigration and the Politics of Identity | Annual Harrell-Bond Lecture 2025
Kenan Malik (Writer, lecturer and broadcaster)
Wednesday, 05 March 2025, 5.15pm to 6.15pm
Grove Theatre, Magdalen College, Oxford. Please use Octagon Gate entrance, located on Longwall Street side entrance to Magdalen College
Hosted by Refugee Studies Centre
About the talk
Two of the most significant political developments in Western nations in recent years have been the growth of hostility to immigration, on the one hand, and the rise of the politics of identity, on the other. This lecture examines the relationship between the two. It shows how and why the debate about immigration has increasingly become one about culture, history and identity. It shows, too, how the politics of identity, which for much of the postwar period was in the province of the left, has become appropriated (or rather, as the lecture shows, re-appropriated) by the right and by white nationalists, and become a key weapon in their battle against immigration.
About the speaker
Kenan Malik is a writer, lecturer and broadcaster. He is a regular columnist for the Observer, where he has written frequently on issues related to migration and asylum, and an occasional columnist for the New York Times and Göteborgs-Posten. He studied neurobiology at the University of Sussex and history and philosophy of science at Imperial College, London. He has lectured at a number of universities in Britain, Europe, Australia and the USA.
His main areas of academic interest are the history of ideas, the history and philosophy of science, the history and philosophy of religion, the philosophy of mind, theories of human nature, moral and political philosophy, and the history and sociology of race, immigration and identity.
His latest book, Not So Black and White: A History of Race from White Supremacy to Identity Politics (Hurst, 2023), was selected as one of the 'Books to Read in 2023' in the Financial Times and The Irish Times and was rated one of the 'Best Books of 2023 So Far' in the New Statesman.
His previous books include The Quest for a Moral Compass: A Global History of Ethics (Atlantic Books, 2015), From Fatwa to Jihad: How the World Changed, The Satanic Verses to Charlie Hebdo (Atlantic Books, updated edition 2017), Multiculturalism and its Discontents: Rethinking Diversity After 9/11 (Seagull, 2013), Strange Fruit: Why Both Sides are Wrong in the Race Debate (Oneworld, 2008), Man, Beast and Zombie: What Science Can and Cannot Tell Us About Human Nature (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2000) and The Meaning of Race: Race, History and Culture in Western Society (Palgrave, 1996).
The lecture will be followed by a drinks reception.
All enquiries should be directed to rsc-outreach@qeh.ox.ac.uk.