Race in the Shadow of Law

<p><em>Race in the Shadow of Law</em> offers a critical legal analysis of European responses to institutional racism. It draws connections between contemporary legal knowledge practices and colonial systems of thought arguing that many people of colour experience the law as a part of a racial problem rather than a solution to racial injustice. Based on a critical legal ethnography of anti-racism work in Europe and with an emphasis on the German context the book positions Black and anti-racist perspectives at the centre rather than the margins of critically thinking through the intersection of race and law. Combining this ethnography with comparative legal analysis discourse analysis and critical race theory the book develops a critical discussion of the European legal frameworks aimed at regulating racism and particularly institutional racism in policy and policing. In linking this critique to the transformative potential of social movements however it goes on to examine the strategic and creative possibility of disrupting conventional modes of engaging and resisting law.</p>