Abstract: | This essay provides a critical reflection on the intellectual and political questions raised by The Empire Strikes Back. It argues that thirty years after the collection helped establish the politics of race at the centre of mainstream scholarly debate; these have now been pushed to the periphery of British sociology. The discussion begins by setting the book against its prevailing political economy, before commenting on the virtue and authenticity in its type of critical scholarship. The essay then moves to spotlight some of the ways in which the collection may be deemed both pioneering and limited, how we might recall the collection today. |