Readers' reactions

Last week in The THES... Panikos Panayi argued that the nation-state is inherently racist.

Chris Williams

Institute of Education

University of London

An example of Panayi's racist (or perhaps "nationist") nation-state was demonstrated in the recent case of the gay parents whose children were denied immigration clearance.

The impropriety was not only about gay rights. It reflected the plight of all international families. Although joined by family law in one nation, they can be arbitrarily separated by immigration law in another.

International families are an inevitable product of a globalising world and are potentially a force for good through increasing international harmony.

When will governments catch up with global change and extend the rhetoric about family values to international families?