Ben Rogaly was at the 2017 AAG Annual Meeting in Boston.

Ben spoke on a panel session on Brexit, race and migration  on 07th April, 2017

Organizer(s):
Peter Hopkins – Newcastle University
Kathy Burrell – University of Liverpool

Chair(s):
Peter Hopkins – Newcastle University

Introduction:
Kathy Burrell – University of Liverpool

Panelist(s):
Ben Rogaly – University of Sussex
Arshad Isakjee – University of Birmingham
Caroline Nagel – University of South Carolina
Katherine Botterill – Edinburgh Napier University

Session Description: This panel discussion was put together in response to the seismic shifts that have been, and are still, taking place in British political culture in light of the June 2016 referendum result to leave the European Union. Two key developments have seen a substantive change in the way migration and race are discussed in political discourse – first the referendum campaign itself which took positions on immigration which would previously have been considered to be ‘beyond the pale’ into mainstream discussion. Resultant increases in racial violence – including the murder of a Polish man in Essex – have led to a palpable change in public culture for many people, stretching the image of the UK as somewhere traditionally open to diversity to its limits. The second development has been the changes which have happened in government as a result, and a marked hardening of rhetoric on migration – including suggestions that firms should list foreign workers and schools should list non UK born children. At the time of writing – late 2016 – the fate of current EU citizens in the UK is uncertain.

There is so much to unpack from these changes, and so many discussions to work through. This panel discussion brought together people who were expert in different aspects of the geographies of race and migration in a UK context to explore what has happened since June 2016, what the future implications might be, and how best to respond to them.

Key questions and issues discussed included:
The referendum campaign itself
Racial violence and discrimination since the referendum
The position of EU citizens in the UK
Discourses of empire in British public life
Place, belonging and migration