BIBFRAME Work

Title

Myths and sanctioned ignorance in British immigration discourse

Type

  • Text
  • Monograph

Contribution

Subject

  • Great Britain--Emigration and immigration--History (LCSH)
  • Great Britain--Emigration and immigration--Public opinion (LCSH)

Language

Classification

Content

Supplementary content

Summary

"In Myths and Sanctioned Ignorance in British Immigration Discourse, Samuel Bennett looks at British national myths about immigration and the country's colonial history. Combining Critical Discourse Studies with decolonial and postcolonial theories, Bennett offers an in-depth, methodologically rigorous analysis of a wide range of material to show how current immigration discourses are inextricably tied to the past. The book identifies four key myths: euphemization of the Commonwealth (and erasure of Britain's colonial history); immigration as both enrichment and threat; Britain offering a safe haven for those in need; and a teleological story of 'British values.' Intentionally moving backwards and forwards between past and the present, and across genres, Bennett shows how the myths the UK tells itself are at once stable, deployed in different contexts, and historically rooted. Ultimately, this book argues that through these myths the migrant 'Other'--and, by extension, British ethnic minorities--have been silenced and erased from the country's story which legitimises a racialised immigration policy." -- Adapted from publisher's description.

Table of Contents

British exceptionalism : purifying history in election manifestos -- Colonial forgettings : the historical subject and the erasure of effect -- Britain in danger : citizenship as (white) privilege -- The necropolitics of asylum policy -- Myths, absences, and emergencies : the case of British values -- Conclusion. Towards a linguistic sociology of absences.

Authorized Access Point

Bennett, Samuel. Myths and sanctioned ignorance in British immigration discourse

Geographic Coverage

Admin Metadata

  • Date: 2026-09-11T20:15:48.171752+00:00
  • Agent: cbc
  • Status: c
  • Derived from: 24145193

Admin Metadata

  • Date: 2026-09-11
  • Cataloger id: Unknown
  • Description level: http://id.loc.gov/ontologies/bibframe-2-6-0/
  • Description language: eng
  • Description authentication: pcc

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