This book focuses, from a British perspective, on the dilemma facing educational systems in culturally diverse societies: too much allowance for diversity can lead to fragmentation and loss of control; too little can lead to alienation, unrest, and loss of control. The book's first part draws on the author's research in educational policy in England and Wales at both state and institutional levels to argue that policy makers and practitioners have avoided coming to grips with one of the central impulses of culturally and ethnically mixed societies: racism. The second part focuses on the research enterprise itself. It highlights some of the methodological limitations of existing research on multicultural and antiracist education research, which has played a powerful role in the framing of educational policy and practice. The book's final chapter provides a defense of antiracist education against the criticisms mounted by those on the New Right, multiculturalists, and critical revisionists. (Contains over 300 references.) (GLR)