The UK government proudly calls the aim of its immigration policy to be the creation of a “hostile environment,” while refugees drown in the Mediterranean and Britain votes to leave the EU against claims that “swarms”of migrants are entering Britain. Meanwhile, study after study confirms that immigration is not damaging the UK's economy, nor putting a strain on public services, but immigration is blamed for all of Britain's ills. Yet concerns about immigration are deemed “legitimate” across the political spectrum, with few exceptions. How did we get here?
Maya Goodfellow offers a compelling answer. Through interviews with leading policy-makers, asylum seekers, and immigration lawyers, Goodfellow illuminates the dark underbelly of contemporary immigration policies. A nuanced analysis of the UK's immigration policy from the 1960s onwards, Hostile Environment links immigration policy and the rhetoric of both Labour and Tory governments to the UK's colonial past and its imperialist present. Goodfellow shows that distinct forms of racism and dehumanisation directly resulted from immigration policy, and reminds us of the human cost of concessions to anti-immigration politics.
About the Author
Maya Goodfellow is a writer, researcher and academic. She has written for the New York Times , the Guardian , the New Statesman, Al Jazeera and the Independent . She received her PhD from SOAS, University of London. She is a trustee of the Runnymede Trust.
Industry Reviews
"How immigrants became the scapegoats for injustices caused by the rich and powerful is one of the burning questions of modern politics. This masterful, wonderfully written, and vitally important book written by one of the most powerful writers on race and migration today more than does it justice. This book is essential to understanding the reactionary political upheavals which have swept the West."
Owen Jones author of Chavs
"Maya Goodfellow has a sharp mind, a deep well of knowledge and a readable style. When she writes something, I learn something."
Gary Younge
"This book is a must read if you are thinking of going into politics. It will highlight the trials and tribulations of political life and how the choices made at the very top of Government can affect people in the harshest of ways. Maya enlightens the reader on both the decisions that lead to the pain and suffering inflicted through Governments' immigration policies and Theresa May's legacy, which will no doubt be her fuelling of the hostile environment which she systematically designed to dehumanise a generation of legal citizens with devastating consequences. Maya brings to the fore in the most painful terms just how expensive it is to be poor."
Dawn Butler Member of Parliament and Shadow Secretary of State for Women and Equalities
"Hostile Environment is a bold and at times brutal analysis. It raises many uncomfortable questions for those who sat at the table making this policy. An important contribution to an ongoing debate."
Baroness Warsi
"A vital, urgent thought-provoking read as we race towards the Brexit horror. Place this book in the hands of anyone who says immigration is not about race. Using Britain's own history as a pivot, Maya Goodfellow astutely captures the gradual progression in public policy, political outlook and people's opinion that has culminated in a climate of intolerance and barely concealed racism."
Meena Kandasamy author and activist
"Hostile Environment is a powerful reminder that the right has been weaponising the immigration debate to distract from the real causes of working class dispossession. We need more writers like Maya Goodfellow who so clearly and passionately outline what is at work and at stake in battles for social justice."
Kehinde Andrews author of Back to Black: Retelling Black Radicalism for the Twenty-First Century
