Depoliticising race

A critical policy analysis of the UK's CRED 2021 report

Bibliographic Data

ID19218657
AuthorsZimao Yang (0000-0003-2060-4453, University of Cambridge), Jiawei Ren (0000-0002-3434-7454, Zhejiang Gongshang University Hangzhou College of Commerce, corresponding author), Weiyue Wang (0000-0002-9127-7544, Zhejiang Gongshang University Hangzhou College of Commerce)
Year2026
Publication date2026-04-20
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCritical Social Policy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0261-0183 • E-ISSN: 1461-703X
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/02610183261440818
OpenAlexW7154991733
LanguageEN
References cited26

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the UK government introduced the 2021 Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities (CRED) report as a flagship race policy. Using Critical Policy Analysis (CPA), this study critically examines the CRED report to uncover how structural racial inequality is obscured through policy discourse. The analysis reveals three key findings: (a) the report's reliance on data-driven and technocratic language depoliticises racism, framing disparities as cultural or behavioural rather than systemic; (b) key racial concepts are redefined, raising thresholds for recognising institutional racism and shifting accountability away from state structures; (c) by selectively highlighting minority ‘success stories’ and national progress, the policy constructs an optimistic narrative that reinforces state legitimacy. This research contributes to the literature by exposing how UK race policy functions as a tool of ideological containment, managing public dissent while preserving the racial order embedded within capitalist governance

Accountability · Commission · Critical race theory · Ideology · Narrative · Policy analysis · Public policy · Racism · Technocracy · Critical Race Theory in Education · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Populism, Right-Wing Movements

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Open DOIOpen Access