Multiculturalism in Twenty-First Century Britain
Keywords:
Multiculturalism, immigration, Britishness, terrorism, BrexitAbstract
In 2012, the opening ceremony of the London Olympic Games projected an image of a New Britain: multicultural, liberal, and a well-meaning country. Astonishingly, after the Brexit referendum of 2016, it seemed as a system of multicultural values about what Britain was like had been overturned. Hence, this article examines the notion of multiculturalism in relation to other concepts such as immigration, Britishness, terrorism, and Brexit. Further, the article attempts to explore whether multiculturalism is a divisive factor that leads to disunity through promoting cultural differences or it is a driving force for unity that leads to more integration of ethnic minorities and a fairer British society.
Downloads
References
(1) Raymond Taras, Challenging Multiculturalism: European Models of Diversity (Edinburgh; Edinburgh University Press, 2013), p. 82.
(2) Cited in Quentin Deakin, “British Multiculturalism under the Spotlight,” Contemporary Review, 289: 1987 (2007), p. 461.
(3) Mehdi Hasan, “How We Rub along Together,” New Statesman, 140: 5047 (4 Apr. 2011), p. 28.
(4) See Tony Blair’s 1995 speech at: http://www.britishpoliticalspeech.org/speech-archive.htm?speech=201
(5) David Cameron, “PM’s Speech at Munich Security Conference,” British Prime Minister’s Office, (5 Feb. 2011), https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pms-speech-at-munich-security-conference.
(6) Ibid.
(7) Qtd in Alex Barker, “Clegg Challenges PM’s Line on Extremism,” Financial Times, (3 Mar. 2011), https://www.ft.com/content/0e3c3b08-45d2-11e0-acd8-00144feab49a
(8) See more details on the Maastricht Treaty at: http://publications.europa.eu/resource/cellar/23e2e276-05ee-49f6-b3ca-d6db7e3b2738.0005.02/DOC_2
(9) For more on the European single internal market, see The European Union Explained: Internal Market. (2014, November). Retrieved from http://publications.europa.eu/resource/cellar/f85c0e8f-4cdf-4859-be26-f9c17e7fbb6f.0024.02/DOC_1
(10) Publications Office, “Accession to the European Union,” (23 Feb. 2004), https://publications.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/e90603f2-4d89-43d6-932f-954589524e92
(11) “Reality Check: How Many EU Nationals Live in the UK,” BBC News, (8 July 2016), https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-uk-leaves-the-eu-36745584
(12) Frank Ellis, “Race, Marxism and the ‘Deconstruction’ of the United Kingdom,” The Journal of Social, Political, and Economic Studies, 26:4 (2001), p. 691.
(13) Qtd in Dominic Casciani, “Phillips Clears Police of Racism,” BBC News, (19 Jan. 2009), http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7836766.stm
(14) Mohan Ambikaipaker, Political Blackness in Multiracial Britain (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2018), p. 184.
(15) “How has Immigration Changed Great Britain since WWII,” BBC.com, https://www.bbc.com/timelines/zxm6pv4
(16) Migration Observatory, Migrants in the UK Labour Market: An Overview, (15 July. 2019), available at: https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/briefings/migrants-in-the-uk-labour-market-an-overview/
(17) UK Government, “New Government Action to Create Stronger, More Integrated Britain,” Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, (14 Mar. 2018), https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-government-action-to-create-stronger-more-integrated-britain
(18) 2012 Olympics Rankings can be checked at, Donohue, T. (2012, August 13). Olympics 2012 power rankings: Final edition. Retrieved from https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1292940#slide7
(19) David Hassan and Shakya Miltra, The Olympic Games: Meeting New Global Challenges (Routledge, 2016), p. 44.
(20) Patrick Cockburn, “All over the Country Ethnic Minorities are Victims of more Violence than Ever,” The Unz Review, (14 June. 2019), http://www.unz.com/pcockburn/because-of-brexit-people-are-victims-of-violence-more-than-ever/
(21) Jason Cowley, “This Is Not the Country It Was When Labour Returned to Power in 1997,” New Statesman, 133: 4681 (29 Mar. 2004), p. 26.
(22) Derek McGhee, Intolerant Britain? Hate, Citizenship and Difference (Maidenhead: Open University Press, 2005), p. 171.
(23) Lacy Norris, “The Arthur of the Twentieth and the Twenty- First Centuries,” The Cambridge Companion to the Arthurian Legend,” Eds. Elizabeth Archibald and Ad Putter (Cambridge University Press, 2009), p. 135.
(24) Graeme Paton, “English Not First Language,” The Telegraph, (29 Apr. 2018), https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1912331/English-not-first-language-for-800000-children.html
(25) Raymond Taras, p. 77
(26) Qtd in Patrick Hennessy, “Burka Ban Ruled Out by Immigration Minister,” The Telegraph, (17 July. 2010), https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/7896751/Burka-ban-ruled-out-by-immigration-minister.html
(27) Qtd in Richard Lewis, Multiculturalism Observed: Exploring Identity (Vubpress, 2006), p. 127.
(28) William Pfaff, “A Monster of Our Own Making,” The Guardian, (21 Aug. 2005), https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/aug/21/july7.terrorism
(29) Full text of Tony Blair’s speech is available at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/aug/05/uksecurity.terrorism1
(30) “Home Office Criticized over £830 million ‘Failed’ Borders Scheme,” BBC News, (3 Dec. 2015), https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-34988913
(31) UK Parliament, Counter-Terrorism Funding and Policing, House of Commons Home Affairs Committee, (2016:3), https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201617/cmselect/cmhaff/135/13507.htm
(32) Gallup’s poll entitled Islamophobia: Understanding anti-Muslim sentiment in the West can be retrieved from https://news.gallup.com/poll/157082/islamophobia-understanding-anti-muslim-sentiment-west.aspx
(33) Ive Marx and Wiemer Salverda, Low-wage Employment in Europe: Perspectives for Improvement (ACCO, 2005), p. 74.
(34) Alex Hunt, “UKIP: The Story of the UK Independence Party’s Rise,” BBC News, (21 Nov. 2014), https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-21614073
(35) “David Cameron Promises In/Out Referendum on EU,” BBC News, (23 Jan.2013), https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-21148282
(36) Hannah Jones, “More in Common: The Domestication of Misogynist White Supremacy and the Assassination of Jo Cox,” Ethnic and Racial Studies, 42:14, (Jan. 2019), p. 2431-2449.
(37) “Brexit: All You Need to Know about the UK leaving the EU,” BBC News, (3 Oct. 2019), https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-32810887
(38) Figures of EU immigration to the UK can be retrieved from https://fullfact.org/immigration/eu-migration-and-uk/
(39) Heather Stewart, Rowena Mason, and Rajeev Syal, “David Cameron Resigns after UK Votes to Leave European Union,” The Guardian, (24 June. 2016), https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/24/david-cameron-resigns-after-uk-votes-to-leave-european-union
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
