In this dissertation I examine the

In this dissertation I examine the relationship between race and citizenship in contemporary Britain. Specifically, I examine the ways racial ideologies within the UK are internalized, reproduced, employed, and resisted by racialized actors as they exercise their civil, political and social rights of citizenship. I focus on the construction of these racial ideologies within British national social policies aimed at Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities and the strategies employed by BME voluntary and community organizations in relation to these policies. I explore the ways these BME organizations access their rights of citizenship through a racial engagement with the state. The dissertation addresses three questions: How do racialized actors in Britain take part in constructing and accessing their rights of citizenship within civil society? What is the nature of British racialized citizenship that is made available to individuals and organisations that represent racial and ethnic communities? What are the narratives used by individuals, Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) groups and the state to negotiate issues of race and racism within the boundaries of citizenship?