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15.10.2024

On Friday the 18th October 2024 Professor Charlotte Williams OBE FLSW will deliver the annual lecture of the Welsh Political Archive at The National Library of Wales, Abeystwyth.

In her lecture, titled “From A Tolerant Nation? to an Anti-Racist Nation?” she offers a timely analysis of the distinctiveness and future of race politics in Wales.

The contrasting backdrops of Welsh Government’s Anti-Racist Wales Action Plan (ARWAP) and other public policy on race, alongside Far-Right rioting in the UK and the wider success of Far-Right parties across Europe, make the focus of this lecture critical.

Professor Charlotte Williams said:
“A critical shift has occurred in the socio-political landscape of race in the UK which leads us to consider a new social topography of race relations and a decentering of the race politics of the UK.”

“With this lecture I am suggesting an analysis that pivots on three phases or eras in the Welsh government approach to race equality. These eras reflect particular triggers to change: Distinctiveness (Clear Red Water); Decoherence (new Equalities legislative era); and Decolonisation (Black Lives Matter and beyond).

“These three eras beg the overall question: can governments comprehensively steer and sustain a path towards racial justice?”

Rob Phillips, Welsh Political Archive said:
"We are very proud to be able to welcome Professor Charlotte Williams to deliver this year's lecture at such a vital time in Welsh politics. The lecture is the pinnacle of the Political Archive's calendar and will be an opportunity to look forward to future developments while we celebrate the great political collections in the Library, preserved for the benefit of the people."

A graduate of Bangor University and now Emeritus Professor in the School of History, Philosophy and Social Sciences there, Professor Williams retired recently as Professor of Social Work and Deputy Dean at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University in Melbourne, Australia. She holds Honorary Fellow appointments at Wrexham University and the University of South Wales. Alongside her academic career here and in Australia, Professor Williams is known for her ground breaking text, A Tolerant Nation? which explores ethnic diversity in Wales and her award-winning memoir of growing up mixed race in Wales, Sugar and Slate, which won Wales Book of the Year 2003.

The Welsh Political Archive was established in 1983 to coordinate the collection of documentary evidence of all kinds about politics in Wales. It collects records and papers of political parties, politicians, semi-political organisations, campaigns and pressure groups; leaflets, pamphlets and other printed ephemera; posters and photographs; websites and tapes of radio and television programmes. Its work is not limited to a specific section of the Library.

The Welsh Political Archive's annual lecture was first held in 1987 and a number of academics, journalists, historians and politicians have had the opportunity to deliver the lecture. Previous lecturers include Lord Cledwyn of Penrhos, Lord Roberts of Conwy, John Davies, Lord Bourne, Jeremy Bowen and Professor Angela John.

Tickets for the event and for the online stream can be ordered free of charge on the Library website:

Following the event the full lecture text will be available on our website.

--ENDS--
** Mae’r datganiad yma hefyd ar gael yn Gymraeg **

For more information, requests for interview or media offers please contact:
Rhodri ap Dyfrig, Head of Marketing and Audiences, National Library of Wales
rhodri.apdyfrig@llyfrgell.cymru / 07521 761762


NOTES FOR EDITORS
About the Welsh Political Archive

Website: https://www.library.wales/welshpoliticalarchive

About the National Library of Wales
The National Library of Wales is one of the great libraries of the world. Located in Aberystwyth, it is the home of the story of Wales.

Opened in 1907, the Library is the centre of research into the culture and heritage of Wales and the Celtic nations.

The purpose of the Library is to make our culture and heritage accessible for everyone to learn, research and enjoy.

We are a legal deposit library, which means we are entitled to a copy of every print publication in Britain and Ireland, but our collections also include the following:

  • 7,000,000 feet of film
  • 250,000 hours of video
  • 7,000,000 books and newspapers
  • 40,000 manuscripts
  • 1,500,000 maps
  • 150,000 hours of sound
  • 950,000 photographs
  • 60,000 works of art
  • 1,900 cubic meters of archives

You can search the collections online and can find further information along with a list of resources on our website.