Institute of Race Relations (IRR)
ActiveDescription
The Institute of Race Relations (IRR) is an independent educational charity established in 1958 to carry out research, publish and collect resources on race relations internationally. Following a radical transformation backed by its membership in 1972, the organisation moved from a policy-oriented, establishment, academic institution into an anti-racist thinktank, concentrating on responding to the needs of Black people and producing direct analyses of institutionalised racism in Britain and the rest of Europe.
The IRR positions itself at the cutting edge of research and analysis informing the struggle for racial justice in Britain, Europe and internationally, seeking to reflect the experiences of those who suffer racial oppression and drawing its perspectives from the most vulnerable in society. Its investigations have covered racism and the press, police racism, school exclusions, deaths in custody, the position of asylum seekers, anti-Muslim racism, the impact of anti-terrorism legislation and attacks on multiculturalism, alongside research on racism elsewhere in Europe including racial violence, the extreme Right, asylum and immigration policy, human rights violations, and policing and security policy.
It publishes the quarterly journal Race & Class, the online news service IRR News, and reports and briefing papers, and has developed educational resources on racism and its historical roots.
Currently active
Yes
Offers funding
No, this infrastructure does not provide funding.
Founding year
1958
Contact details
On the map
Categorisation
Type
Tags
Additional Partnerships
Paul Hamlyn Foundation; Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust; Garden Court Chambers; London Metropolitan Archives
Last modified:
2026-06-24 23:29:50