Black Resistance to British Policing - Hardcover

by Adam Elliott-Cooper (Author)

Using a decade of activist research, this book offers a radical analysis of grassroots black resistance to policing in twenty-first-century Britain.

Front Jacket

'Without a doubt, Elliott-Cooper is a critical voice anchoring urgent conversations about the dynamics of Black resistance in the UK. Powerfully argued and compelling.' Kennetta Hammond Perry, Director of the Stephen Lawrence Research Centre and author of London is the Place for Me 'A must-read for researchers, organisers or students. The book builds toward abolition understood as the capacity for self-determination, not only for people like those vividly portrayed in these pages, but for all who struggle to end oppression.' Ruth Wilson Gilmore, author of The Golden Gulag 'A comprehensive and timely examination of the function and practices of the police as a control apparatus of the state as they seek to regulate black people's presence in the society and its institutions.' Gus John, Associate Professor, UCL Institute of Education and author of Moss Side 1981 'Brother Adam Elliott-Cooper has given us an important slice of Black British history. Grounded not just in solid academic research, but also in front line work serving and working with communities. Adam's grasp of both history and the reality on the ground today makes for an impressive read as he brings to life the characters and communities resisting policing.' Akala Britain has long viewed itself as tolerant and open, but institutional police racism continues to unsettle and challenge this interpretation. Black resistance to British policing offers the first detailed account of grassroots anti-racist resistance. From twentieth-century liberation movements, to the 2011 'riots' and into present day Black Lives Matter protests, Elliott-Cooper traces how colonial legacies and modern state power are used to classify, control, exploit and perpetrate violence. Using a decade of research into activism, spontaneous rebellion and campaigning, Elliott-Cooper uncovers how British racism stretches back much further than the Windrush scandal, and beyond the shores of the mainland, to its imperial cultures and policies across the Empire. The police and prison systems are beyond reform, Elliott-Cooper argues, and to imagine a world free from racism we must work towards a system free from the violence and exploitation that makes racism possible.

Back Jacket

'Without a doubt, Elliott-Cooper is a critical voice anchoring urgent conversations about the dynamics of Black resistance in the UK. Powerfully argued and compelling.'
Kennetta Hammond Perry, Director of the Stephen Lawrence Research Centre and author of London is the Place for Me

'A must-read for researchers, organisers and students. The book builds toward abolition, understood as the capacity for self-determination, not only for people like those vividly portrayed in these pages, but for all who struggle to end oppression.'
Ruth Wilson Gilmore, author of Golden Gulag

'A comprehensive and timely examination of the function and practices of the police as a control apparatus of the state as they seek to regulate black people's presence in the society and its institutions.'
Gus John, Associate Professor, UCL Institute of Education and author of Moss Side 1981

'Brother Adam Elliott-Cooper has given us an important slice of Black British history. Grounded not just in solid academic research, but also in front line work serving and working with communities. Adam's grasp of both history and the reality on the ground today makes for an impressive read as he brings to life the characters and communities resisting policing.'
Akala

Britain has long viewed itself as tolerant and open, but institutional police racism continues to unsettle and challenge this interpretation. Black resistance to British policing offers the first detailed account of grassroots anti-racist resistance. From twentieth-century liberation movements, to the 2011 'riots' and into present day Black Lives Matter protests, Elliott-Cooper traces how colonial legacies and modern state power are used to classify, control, exploit and perpetrate violence.

Using a decade of research into activism, spontaneous rebellion and campaigning, Elliott-Cooper uncovers how British racism stretches back much further than the Windrush scandal, and beyond the shores of the mainland, to its imperial cultures and policies across the Empire. The police and prison systems are beyond reform, Elliott-Cooper argues, and to imagine a world free from racism we must work towards a system free from the violence and exploitation that makes racism possible.

Author Biography

Adam Elliott-Cooper is a research associate in sociology at the University of Greenwich