LETTERS For Sivanandan's Institute
Sir: Dhiren Bhagat promised (`Race to the top', 23 August) to explain why A. Siva- nandan of the Institute of Race Relations is so highly regarded on the Left, but then got so over-excited by how clever he'd been that he never got round to it.
For the record, the reason why I and a large number of others take the Institute so seriously is because of the unique quality and quantity of its output on the subject of immigration and racism in Britain and overseas. Your readers will be unaware from Mr Bhagat's article that in addition to the highly successful cartoon book How Racism Came to Britain, the Institute has recently produced two well-regarded edu- cational booklets, a major touring exhibi- tion and a series of four television prog- rammes on the experience of immigration to Britain.
Most oddly of all, Mr Bhagat made no mention of the Institute's quarterly journal Race and Class, which has recently pro- duced special numbers on the political struggles in Iran, Sri Lanka and the Leba- non, as well as Great Britain, and which regularly attracts contributors of the dis- tinction of John Berger, Walter Rodney, Edward Said and Noam Chomsky.
By these means, Sivanandan and the Institute have provided by far the most consistently developed and cogently- argued analysis of the British state's invita- tion to its former colonial subjects to settle in the mother country, and the consequ- ences for the settler communities when that invitation was withdrawn. A particular feature of Sivanandan's writing is the internationalism of its perspective: his analysis of the implications of the silicon revolution for the world labour market was exceptionally fine. And his recent attack on 'Racism Awareness Training' continued the Race and Class tradition of rigorous research in alliance with passionate polemic.
It was for such things that I originally beat a path to the Institute's door (and am now proud to serve on its Council). How sad it is that when Mr Bhagat made a similar journey, he came armed with false pretences, mendacious credentials and a hidden microphone.
David Edgar
2-6 Leeke Street, King's Cross Road, London WC1
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