Harry Goulbourne's theme is how post-imperial Britain has come to define
the national community in terms of ethnic affinity, instead of a
traditional multi-ethnic/multi-racial understanding of the nation. He
argues that the continuing 'reception-experience' of non-white groups in
post-war Britain not only arose out of an ethnic perception of the
British nation by the indigenous population, as expressed through state
action, but has also, in turn, encouraged an equally ethnic awakening or
mobilisation among non-white minorities. The result is a failure to
construct a common national ground or sense of community by all those
claiming a formal British identity. Goulbourne draws upon a diverse
literature, including race relations, politics and history. His two case
studies of the Khalistan question in the Punjab and democracy in Guyana
are examples of how exilic politics may affect Britain's ethnic
minorities, partly as a result of the experience of exclusion from
British society.