Library & Cultural Services: Sociology: Ethnicity. Race

Global

For global data on ethnicity, see the links on the Politics subject guide

Black Lives Matter : a reading list
Extensive list from University of Warwick that covers BLM and material on race, racism and race relations more widely
Educating for Black Lives
Selection of free to read resources from Routledge to support educators and researchers tackling this issue
Exact Editions Black Lives Matter
Free content curated from the archives of around 50 magazines
Getty Images Black History & Culture Collection
Huge database of photographic images of the Black experience, primarily in the USA and UK, currently freely available
Intercultural Dialogue Index (ICDI)
ICDI is a proposed composite index for measuring the extent to which ICD is being pursued and implemented in different countries. ICD refers to a process of contact, interaction and exchange of views on the basis of equality, respect, and mutual understanding between individuals or groups from diverse backgrounds
Open University Race & Ethnicity Hub
Growing collection of freely available resources assembled by the OU team
Race & Power
Curated & regularly updated collection of open access book chapters & journal articles from Cambridge University Press. Please note that in addition the library has access to many CUP ebooks and most of its journal content (see library catalogue for details)
Recommended Reads on Race Equity
Short but interesting list of books selected by members of the LSE Community

Women's magazine archive
Digitised archive of leading US, UK & Canadian women's magazines from late 19th century to 2005. Includes Essence, an important US Black women's magazine. Could be used for a variety of research topics, including gender studies, social history, race & ethnicity, youth culture, advertising, media, fashion, consumer and popular culture
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United Kingdom

Archive of the Irish in Britain
Growing collection of digitised materials maintained by London Metropolitan University, covering late 19th century onwards
Barnardo's Oral History Project
Aims to capture and share the experiences of Black and dual heritage communities, including the post-war African and Caribbean communities in Britain, and in some cases experiences of the care system.
Birmingham Black Oral History Project
Birmingham Museums oral history interviews (1990-92) with 21 people who originated from the Caribbean or South Asia. Themes include first impressions, religion, education, racism, identity, nationality, and belonging, as well as thoughts on the future.
Black Britain & Asian Britain (British Library)
Guides to the extensive historical & contemporary resources for the study of Black and Asian history, politics, culture and creative arts in the UK. The collections also reflect the long and turbulent histories of race and empire, as well as post-colonialism. They include music, books, journals, archives and manuscripts, newspapers, maps and photographs, prints and drawings, web pages and stamps.
Black British History (National Archives)
Guide to some of the collections in the National Archives relating to Black history in the UK, including the Mangrove Nine protests (1970)
Black Cultural Archives
National heritage centre in London for collecting & preserving the histories & cultures of African & Caribbean people in the UK
Black Equity Organisation
Independent Black civil rights organisation created to dismantle systemic racism in Britain and deliver better lived experiences for Black people
British Library Sisterhood & After
Contains excerpts from a few recordings with Black & Asian activists including Stella Dadzie and Pragna Patel. Full interviews are held by the BL. See also Gail Lewis https://www.bl.uk/people/gail-lewis
Campaign Against Antisemitism
Caribbean Takeaway Takeover
Oral histories of ten Caribbean elders from the Windrush generation, who arrived in the UK between the 1940s-1960s
Centre on Dynamics of Ethnicity
Cross-university research centre founded in 2013. Runs the Evidence for Equality National Survey (EVENS) - data will be available from UK Data Service by Autumn 2023. Open access ebook based on the dataset: Racism and Ethnic Inequality in a Time of Crisis
Community Security Trust
Organisation for the protection of the UK Jewish community and campaigns against anti-semitism. Anti-semitic incidents report (2008-) and other publications available from website
Equality and Human Rights Commission
Independent quango charged with promoting human rights & equality in the UK. Includes Is Britain fairer? flagship project/publication. Notably the publications Sex and power: who rules Britain?, Inquiry into the Appointment Process of FTSE 350 Boards and Facts about women and men in Great Britain..
Ethnicity Facts & Figures
New website on Gov.uk drawing together relevant statistics.
George Padmore Institute
Founded in 1991 the GPI is an archive & resource centre in London, documenting the experience of people of Caribbean, African & Asian descent in the UK (and Europe). Also linked to the pioneering bookshop New Beacon Books
Hidden Treasures: Celebrating Jewish Archives in Britain
Directory of key archives relating to Jewish history and culture, maintained by the Board of Deputies of British Jews
Institute for Jewish Policy Research
Institute of Race Relations (UK)
Institute of Race Relations (IRR) was established in 1958 & developed into the leading think tank tackling anti-racism in the UK (and beyond). Many resources available. Published the important journal Race Today, available in print format from the library at Essex (also online through the Internet Archive - https://archive.org/details/racetoday ), and more recently Race & Class (available online from the library at Essex)
Irish in Britain
Online project coordinated by Dr. Susan Cahill celebrating 50 years of Irish life in the UK. Includes oral history clips from members of the Irish community
London Metropolitan Archives Community Archives
Numerous historical collections held by City of London, see guides 21-26 in particular. Extensive collections relating to the Black Caribbean community, as well as Chinese, German & Jewish communities
The Making of Black Britain
Oral history project that explores the experiences of Black people in Britain, looking at nationality, identity, belonging and more.
Memories of the Reading Windrush Generation & their Descendants
Series of oral history recordings developed by members of Reading’s Caribbean community and accessible online.
Race & Diversity
Web page collating UK research & publications on this topic, useful for current awareness
Race & Ethnicity in British Sociology
2020 report from British Sociological Association
Race on the Agenda (ROTA)
Organisation working to demonstrate the impact of race and racism and the options for positive change, especially in the areas of: Housing, Health, Education, Immigration, Employment, Criminal Justice
Runnymede Trust (UK)
Leading think tank on race equality issues.
A. Sivanandan
A. Sivanandan (1923-2018) was director of the Institute of Race Relations and founded the well-known journal Race & Class. The website brings together many of his writings, interviews & lectures
Southall Black Sisters
Leading (1979) organisation supporting the struggle of Black & minority women for civil rights and freedom from domestic and gender-based violence
Teaching British Histories of Race, Migration & Empire
Institute for Historical Research & Runnymede Trust project, collating crowdsourced links to resources for schools & universities. Includes some contemporary resources, as well as historical.
Transnational Press London
Independent UK press with strong interests in Turkish & Kurdish studies, especially in relation to migration & communities in the UK
UKREN - UK Race and Europe Network
Network of UK non-governmental organisations aiming to combat racism in Europe.
Windrush 75
Website from the National Archives, linking to a variety of resources
Windrush Scandal Project
Three year project led by University of London to examine the 2018 Windrush Scandal within a transnational framework. Includes oral history interviews

In terms of business and employment issues, see the following:

Parker Review (Feb 2020) on Ethnic diversity: enriching business leadership, looks at representation on UK company boards

Green Park consultancy Leadership 10000 annual reports on gender & ethnic minority representation at senior levels in UK companies

ONS has various datasets including Labour market status by ethnic group (quarterly data from 2001 from the Labour Force Survey)

Race in the workplace - 2017 independent review conducted by Baroness McGregor-Smith

Government official bodies include;

Race Disparity Unit (Cabinet Office) which includes the newly (July 2020) formed Commission on Race & Ethnic Disparities (CRED).
See the response to the CRED Sewell Report by the BAME Staff Forum here at Essex

Relating to Higher Education, the Living Black at University report (2022) from accommodation provider Unite Students reveals ongoing issues of racism in UK universities. See also the new (2022) Ethnic Representation Index for UK universities, developed by University of the Arts London

Latin America

Project on Race & Ethnicity in Latin America (PERLA)
Major research effort, with publications and data available

United States

Amistad Research Center
Houses the collections of the American Missionary Association (AMA). Includes some digital collections of documents & photographs, most relating to the fight against slavery, the civil rights movement, and AMA schools
Black Freedom Struggle in the United States
Free resource, with approximately 1,600 primary source documents from ProQuest databases, covering the period 1790-2000
Civil Rights Digital Library
Extensive resource assembled by the University of Georgia
Civil Rights History Project
Part of Library of Congress Digital Collections, with extensive video interviews with key figures

Ebony magazine archive
Ebony has been a leading African-American magazine since publication commenced in 1945. It focuses on news & stories important to the Black community in the US. The fully searchable full-text archive spans 1945-2014, and covers African-American business, history & politics (including civil rights), education, entertainment, fashion and culture.
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Georgia Historic Newspapers
Digital Library of Georgia project to make available African American newspapers from the late 19th century to the present
Hispanic Trends (Pew Research Center)
Includes major annual (2002-) National Survey of Latinos
MLA Language Map
Uses data from the 2000 census and updates from the American Community Survey. Detail down to zip code level
NAACP - National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (US)
Leading African-American civil rights organisation, founded in 1909.

Proquest Historical Newspapers
As well as access to some major national newspapers (Guardian & Observer, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post), this newspaper archive provides full text access to ten important US Black newspapers, making it an extremely valuable resource for research on almost any aspect of the 19th & 20th century African American experience
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Protests Against Racism Web Archive
Library of Congress preserved websites created in the aftermath of the police murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020. Snapshots of the sites were preserved from June 29-August 7, 2020 with later web captures made for some during 2020, 2021 and 2022. They Provide insight into the nature of activism, Black Lives Matter organisations and protests from a largely US perspective

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture - Digital Collections

The Schomburg Center is a major unit within the New York Public Library. It offers quite extensive digital collections relating to Harlem and beyond. Recently it compiled a Black Liberation Reading List of 95 books, and JSTOR (in collaboration with publishers) consequently opened up around 2500 articles, book reviews, and chapters linked to these 95 titles. Links to the JSTOR open access content are here

Southern Poverty Law Center (US)
Major civil rights organisation.
Triad Black Lives Matter Collection
Material documenting the BLM, police brutality protests, and race relations, in the Triad area of North Carolina

Women's magazine archive
The Women's Magazine Archive includes Essence (1970-2005), an important publication written by, and for, Black American women
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