Last month’s article on diversity made the point that attributing fixed ‘differences’ to particular groups can be seen as an exercise of power, in that people defined as ‘other’ may be assumed to be inferior. Here, lecturer at The Open University’s school of health and social welfare Martin Robb and senior lecturer Jenny Douglas explore how ‘racialisation’ works in practice, and examine its implications for interpersonal communication in health care

‘RACIALISATION’ CAN be described as the process by which people are defined according to apparent differences of skin colour, national origin or other attributes, and assumed to be ‘different’ to the assumed majority population.