Is Britain becoming a more racist society? Arun Kundnani looks behind the media hysteria to show how multicultural Britain is under attack by government policies and vitriolic press campaigns that play upon fear and encourage racism.

Exacerbated by the attacks of 9/11 and 7/7, Kundnani argues that a new form of racism is emerging that is based on a systematic failure to understand the causes of forced migration, global terrorism and social segregation. The result is a climate of hatred, especially against Muslims and asylum seekers, and the erosion of the human rights of those whose cultures and values are perceived as 'alien'. 

Communities are more divided than ever. Yet the government presses ahead with flawed immigration and 'integration' policies and anti-terrorist legislation that creates further resentment, alienation and criminalisation. Behind it all lies a refusal to grasp the ways in which the world has been changed by neoliberal globalisation.

What can be done? This timely and precise analysis is a useful account of why racism is now thriving -- and what can be done to stop it. It will be of interest to anyone who is appalled by the current state of race relations in Britain and it should be required reading for all policy-makers.

Arun Kundnani is a fellow at the Open Society Institute in New York and was previously editor of Race & Class, published by the Institute of Race Relations, London. He is a leading commentator on racism, multiculturalism and counter-terrorism and has written for the Guardian and CNN.com.