Institute of Race Relations

The Institute of Race Relations (IRR) is a United Kingdom-based independent think tank and educational charity concerned with racism, migration, racial justice, empire, policing, inequality and the experiences of refugees and minority communities. Although formally established in 1958, its origins lie in the Race Relations Unit created within the Royal Institute of International Affairs, commonly known as Chatham House, after a 1950 speech by Sunday Times editor Harry Hodson on race relations in the Commonwealth. The unit began operating in 1952, with Lord Hailey as its first chairman and Philip Mason, a former Indian Civil Service official, as its first director. It later became an independent Institute of Race Relations under the chairmanship of Sir Alexander Carr-Saunders, while Mason continued as director. During its first two decades, the institute was shaped by the policy concerns of Britain, its former colonies and international institutions. It organised conferences, produced comparative research and received support from bodies including the Ford Foundation and members of the Africa Private Enterprise Group. Early work focused heavily on international and Commonwealth race relations, but the organisation also responded to racial conflict in Britain. Its 1958 study Colour in Britain, by James Wickendon, examined domestic race relations after unrest in Nottingham and Notting Hill. A large survey supported by the Nuffield Foundation during the 1960s generated dozens of research projects and was published as Colour and Citizenship by Jim Rose. By the late 1960s and early 1970s, staff and members increasingly questioned whether the institute's supposedly neutral, policy-oriented research adequately addressed the realities of racism. Restrictive immigration legislation, the political influence of Enoch Powell's speeches and debates over the treatment of Black communities intensified the dispute. Researchers criticised some earlier methodologies as treating Black people as objects of surveillance rather than as political subjects, while the governing council, which included corporate leaders, politicians, editors and academics, challenged the direction of the staff and the magazine Race Today. At a special general meeting in April 1972, members rejected the council's position, prompting the council to resign collectively. The institute was subsequently transformed into an explicitly anti-racist think tank. That transformation changed both IRR's public identity and its funding base. Corporate sponsors and major foundations largely withdrew, producing a severe financial crisis. The organisation moved from its West End premises to a former warehouse on Pentonville Road, where a small staff and volunteers maintained its research, publishing, library and information work. Later support came from the World Council of Churches' Programme to Combat Racism, the Methodist Church, the Transnational Institute and local authorities including the Greater London Council. A fundraising campaign enabled IRR to purchase its Leeke Street premises in Camden in 1984. The institute's work now combines research, advocacy, publishing, historical education and public information. Its quarterly journal Race & Class, published through SAGE, examines racism, empire and globalisation. IRR also produces reports and pamphlets on institutional racism, policing, immigration control, deportation, asylum, racism in the media, school exclusions, deaths in custody, Islamophobia and counter-terrorism. Its IRR News service provides frequently updated reporting, analysis, reviews and event information about racism and refugee experiences in the United Kingdom. Since the 1980s, Black history and anti-racist history have been central to IRR's educational programme. The institute has published materials on Black community formation, resistance, labour, feminism and racial justice, and has maintained a Black History Collection of pamphlets, journals and ephemera. Since the 1990s, its European Race Audit has tracked far-right movements, anti-immigration politics, racial violence, border abuses, deportation, Islamophobia and changing approaches to multiculturalism across Europe. The IRR remains an active research and publishing organisation rather than a commercial consumer brand, with its influence expressed through scholarship, archives, journalism, educational resources and campaigning-oriented analysis.

The Institute of Race Relations developed out of debates about the future of race relations in the British Commonwealth. In a 1950 Chatham House speech, Sunday Times editor Harry Hodson presented race relations and communism as major international challenges. His proposal led to the creation of a Race Relations Unit within the Royal Institute of International Affairs in 1952. Lord Hailey became its first chairman and Philip Mason its first director. The unit was formally established as the Institute of Race Relations in 1958, with Sir Alexander Carr-Saunders as chairman and Mason continuing as director. The early institute conducted international and comparative research shaped by the strategic interests of Britain and its former colonies. It organised conferences with other foreign-policy and strategic institutions and received funding from the Ford Foundation and business-linked groups. Its research covered the Caribbean, Latin America, Asia and tropical Africa. Domestic British work expanded after racial unrest in Nottingham and Notting Hill, leading to James Wickendon's Colour in Britain in 1958. During the 1960s, a Nuffield Foundation-funded survey commissioned 41 research projects and produced Jim Rose's Colour and Citizenship. By the end of the 1960s, the institute's political and intellectual assumptions were increasingly contested. Staff and members questioned the value of presenting race research as detached from the experiences of people facing racism. Restrictive immigration policy and Enoch Powell's public interventions made the issue especially urgent. Researcher Robin Jenkins criticised the methodology associated with Colour and Citizenship, while the governing council opposed the direction of some staff work and sought to restrict Race Today. At an extraordinary general meeting in April 1972, the membership defeated the council's position. The council resigned, and the organisation was reconstituted as an anti-racist think tank. The new orientation brought a funding crisis. Corporate supporters and large foundations were unwilling to finance the institute's revised work, and IRR moved from Jermyn Street to a disused warehouse on Pentonville Road. A small staff, supported by volunteers, continued publishing, research, library and information activities. Funding was later obtained from the World Council of Churches' Programme to Combat Racism, the Methodist Church, the Transnational Institute and local authorities. In 1984, a fundraising campaign allowed the institute to buy premises in Leeke Street, London. From the 1970s onward, IRR produced focused reports and pamphlets on policing, institutional racism, immigration control, induced repatriation, racism in the press, deaths in custody, education, asylum and migration. Its 1979 Police Against Black People was evidence submitted to the Royal Commission on Criminal Procedure and was revised in 1987 as Policing Against Black People. The organisation also expanded its historical and educational work, publishing materials on Black communities, resistance and racial justice. Resources such as Southall: the Birth of a Black Community, Newham: the Forging of a Black Community, Roots of Racism, Patterns of Racism and How Racism Came to Britain were intended to support anti-racist education. The institute's international work became particularly focused on Europe in the 1990s, when it established the European Race Audit. The audit monitored far-right parties, anti-immigration movements, racial violence, border controls, deportation, Islamophobia and debates over multiculturalism. Its European Race Bulletin later gave way to online briefings and downloadable reports. IRR also undertook the Alternative Voices on Integration in Europe project between 2008 and 2010. Its principal continuing platforms are Race & Class, a quarterly journal on racism, empire and globalisation published through SAGE, and IRR News, a free news and analysis service covering racism and refugee experiences in the United Kingdom. The organisation maintains a Black History Collection and continues to combine research, public information, publishing and education. Colin Prescod chaired IRR from 1980 until 2023, when John Narayan became chair.

• 2023

  John Narayan succeeds Colin Prescod as chair

  [1]Institute of Race Relationsen.wikipedia.org

  Prescod's long period as chair ended and John Narayan took over the role.

• 1992

  European Race Audit established

  [1]Institute of Race Relationsen.wikipedia.org

  IRR created a programme to monitor racism, far-right politics, migration policy and racial violence across Europe.

• 1984

  Permanent Leeke Street base acquired

  [1]Institute of Race Relationsen.wikipedia.org

  A fundraising campaign enabled IRR to purchase its Camden office building.

• 1972

  Organisational transformation

  [1]Institute of Race Relationsen.wikipedia.org

  After a contested extraordinary general meeting, the council resigned and IRR adopted an explicitly anti-racist mission.

• 1958

  Institute of Race Relations is established

  [1]Institute of Race Relationsen.wikipedia.org

  The unit became the Institute of Race Relations, the year it also published early domestic research following racial unrest in Britain.

• 1952

  Race Relations Unit begins at Chatham House

  [1]Institute of Race Relationsen.wikipedia.org

  The precursor to IRR began within the Royal Institute of International Affairs, with Lord Hailey as chairman and Philip Mason as director.

• 1950

  Chatham House speech proposes a race-relations research unit

  [1]Institute of Race Relationsen.wikipedia.org

  Sunday Times editor Harry Hodson addressed race relations in the Commonwealth, helping initiate the institutional project that became IRR.

Independent, research-led and explicitly anti-racist, combining critical scholarship with public education, historical documentation, journalism and advocacy-oriented analysis.

• Quarterly journal

  Race & Class

  IRR's principal scholarly publication examines racism, empire, globalisation and related social and political questions. It has featured work by prominent anti-racist, postcolonial and international scholars and writers, and is published quarterly through SAGE Publications.

• Digital news and information service

  IRR News

  A free information service providing regular reporting, features, reviews and event listings on racism, migration, asylum and refugee experiences in the United Kingdom. Contributions come from IRR staff, volunteers and outside writers, alongside links to media and official material.

• Research and monitoring programme · 1992

  European Race Audit

  A programme tracking European developments including far-right parties, anti-immigration movements, racial violence, border abuses, deportation, Islamophobia and challenges to multiculturalism. Its print European Race Bulletin was later replaced by online briefings and downloadable reports.

• Archive and educational resource

  Black History Collection

  An archive of pamphlets, journals and ephemera documenting Black settlement and anti-racist struggles, particularly from the 1950s through the 1980s. The collection is available for consultation by appointment and supports IRR's historical and educational work.

• Research publications

  Anti-racist reports and pamphlets

  IRR publishes focused studies on policing, institutional racism, immigration control, asylum, deaths in custody, school exclusions, racism in the press, counter-terrorism and European migration policy. Examples include Police Against Black People, Spooked! and From Immigration Control to Induced Repatriation.

• 2008Alternative Voices on Integration

  Europe

  IRR conducted a project examining alternative perspectives on integration in several European countries.

  Outcome. The project ran from 2008 to 2010 and contributed to IRR's wider European analysis of integration, Islamophobia and civil rights.

  Source
• 1992European Race Audit

  Europe

  IRR began systematically monitoring racism, far-right politics, anti-immigration movements, border policy, racial violence and Islamophobia across Europe.

  Outcome. The work continued through the European Race Bulletin until 2009 and subsequently through online briefings and reports.

  Source
• 1980Black and anti-racist history education

  United Kingdom

  IRR expanded its work promoting Black history and the history of anti-racist struggles through pamphlets, educational materials, archives and later multimedia projects.

  Outcome. The programme produced widely used educational resources and established a substantial Black History Collection.

  Source

• 2009

  European Race Bulletin moves to an online modelOther

  Background

  The European Race Audit had published the European Race Bulletin as a print periodical covering racism and migration across Europe.

  Action taken

  IRR ended the print bulletin after 2009 and replaced it with online briefing papers and downloadable reports.

  Aftermath

  European monitoring became part of IRR's digital research and information output.

  Source

• 1972

  Adoption of an explicitly anti-racist strategyStrategy

  Background

  Staff and members challenged the institute's earlier claims to policy neutrality and its close relationships with government, politicians, corporations and major foundations. The dispute intensified over research methods and the future of Race Today.

  Action taken

  At an extraordinary general meeting in April 1972, members voted against the governing council's position. The council resigned collectively, and IRR was reorganised as an anti-racist think tank.

  Aftermath

  Corporate and large-foundation funding largely disappeared, causing a financial crisis. IRR relocated to a smaller temporary base, developed new sources of support and continued with a more activist research and publishing mission.

  Source

1. 1Institute of Race Relationsen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Institute of Race Relations official websiteirr.org.uk