Multiculturalism in UK

Civilisation des pays anglophones 1
Multiculturalism in United Kingdom
The Uk as a diverse, often divided country/society.
- The different, often rival, nationalisms

- Regional differences e.G the “north-south divide”
- Town versus Country
- class divisions (based on education, professions, wealth..)
- Age differences
- Political differences, e.g over Brexit
The UK as a fractured society?
- The Uk as a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-faith society
- Ethnicity as part of the official census
- Respondents asked to identify their own ethnicity

- White: English / Welsh / Scottish / Northern Irish / British, Irish, Gypsy or Irish
Traveller, Any other
- Mixed / Multiple ethnic groups: White and black Caribbean, White and Black
Africain, White and Asian, Any other Mixed / Multiple ethnic background
- Asian / Asian British: Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Chinese, Any other Asian
background
-
- Black / African / Caribbean / Black British: African, Caribbean, Any other Black /
African / Caribbean background
- Other ethnic group: Arab, Any other ethnic group
2021 census shows 82% of people in England and Wales are white, and 18% belong to a
black, Asian, mixed or other ethnic group (BAME: Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic)
Variable across the country - London 40% BAME population
According to the 2011 Census, the total population of England and Wales was 56.1
million
86,0% of the population is White

7,5% of the population is made up Asian ethnic groups
3,3% of the population is made of Black ethnic groups
2,2% of the population is made up of Mixed/ Multiple ethnic groups
1,0% of the population is made up of Other ethnic groups
The Asian ethnic group population of 4,213,531 (7.5%) is broken down as follows:
Indian - 1,412,958 (2.5%);
Pakistani - 1,124,511 (2.0%)
Asian other - 835,720 (1.5%)
Bangladeshi - 447,201 (0.8%)
Chinese - 393,141 (0.7%)
The Black ethnic group population 1,864,890 (3.3%) is broken down as follows:
Black African - 989,628 (1.8%)
Black Caribbean - 594,825 (1.1%)
Black other - 280,437 (0.5%)
Representation and ethnicity

● Diversity in the UK: BAME individuals in politics & local government
● 8% of MPs are Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (as of 1st May 2019)
● 5.8% of Members of the House of Lords are Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (as
of 1st May 2019)
● 14% of local councilors are BAME; 1,235 out of 7,306 Councilors in 123 local
authorities in England (according to the OBV BAME Local Political Representation
Audit 2019)
● 28% of the Members of the London Assembly are BAME
People living in the UK born abroad, Daily Mail June 2023

Multiculturalism in the United Kingdom:
- Media debate around migration

- The Daily Mail or The Guardian?
Religion in The UK:
- In 2021 for the first time fewer than half of people in England and Wales describe
themselves as Christian (Census)
- The proportion of people who said they were Christian was 46,2% down from 59,3%
in the last census in 2011
- In contrast the number who said they had no religion increased to 37,2% of
population, up from a quarter
- Those identifying as Muslim rose from 4,9% in 2011 to 6,5% last year
Defining Multiculturalism
- Multiculturalism is before anything else a theory about culture and its value
- The view that cultures, races, and ethnicities, particularly those of minority groups,
deserve special acknowledgement of their differences within a dominant political
culture
- Multiculturalism, if we wish to give a precise meaning to this word, is not synonymous

with multicultural society - today almost all societies are to some extent multicultural.
The word 'multiculturalism' refers to a set of institutional, political and legal
arrangements which ensure the recognition and fair treatment of certain cultural
identities within democracies.
Immigration from the Commonwealth
- Post-WW2 British economic recovery and the need for workers

- British Nationality Act 1948
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo6/11-12/56/enacted
- An Act to make provision for British nationality and for citizenship of the United
Kingdom and Colonies and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid
- Created status of « Citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies » (CUKC)
- Right of residence
- Arrival of Empire Windrush 22 June 1948: The « Windrush generation »
Négative reactions: Teddy Boys; Union
Negative reactions: Teddy Boys; Union Movement; White Defence League campaigning to «
Keep Britain White »
Riots August/September: racially motivated:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzDItpuBcEg
20 April 1968 Enoch Powell (Conservative MP) 'Rivers of blood' speech:

"It almost passes belief that at this moment 20 or 30 additional immigrant children are
arriving from overseas in Wolverhampton alone every week - and that means 15 or 20
additional families a decade or two hence. Those whom the gods wish to destroy, they first
make mad. We must be mad, literally mad, as a nation to be permitting the annual inflow of
some 50,000 dependants, who are for the most part the material of the future growth of the
immigrant-descended population. It is like watching a nation busily engaged in heaping up its
own funeral pyre."
Government policies in the 1950s, 60s and 70s
Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962

- only those with government-issued employment vouchers, limited in number, would
now be allowed to settle
Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968

- Restricted CUKC status for Commonwealth immigrants to those born in UK or with
one parent/grandparent born there
Race Relations Act 1965

- First act to address discrimination
- Illegal to refuse to serve a person, to serve someone with unreasonable delay, or to
overcharge, on the grounds of colour, race, or ethnic or national origins
Race Relations Act 1968

- illegal to refuse housing, employment, or public services to a person on the grounds
of colour, race, ethnic or national origins
Further legislation in 1971 (Commonwealth Immigrants Act) and 1976 (Race Relations
Act)...
- https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-24463873
- And see https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/guides/z×93tyc/revision/4
Discrimination and tensions

● Serious economic difficulties late 1970s
● Violent racism - « Paki-bashing »
Riots 1981
● Brixton, Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham
● Policing - stop and search
● Unemployment (c.25%; 50+% among black youths)
● Inner-city decline - poverty, poor housing
• Riots regular occurrence: 1985, 1991, 1992, 1995, 2000..

• Scarman Report 1981
● Racial disadvantage; community relations; institutional racism in police force
Some advances:
Ongoing problems:
- Terrorism:
● Islamism
● 7/7 bombings London 2005
- Islamophobia
- Rise of far right
● British National Party
● English defence League
Brexit and xenophobia:
- The EU enlargement and immigration into the UK

- The free movement of EU citizens
- The rise of UKIP and the 2016 referendum in favour of Brexit
Success or failure of multiculturalism ?
Controversy: multiculturalism - success or failure?

- February 2011 David Cameron (speech Germany)
● Multiculturalism a clear failure : “under the doctrine of state multiculturalism,
we have encouraged different cultures to live separate lives, apart from each
other and the mainstream. We have failed to provide a vision of society to
which they feel they want to belong. We have even tolerated these
segregated communities behaving in ways that run counter you our values”
- Communitarianism, communalism
● Failure to promote social integration
● Trevor Phillips: “sleepwalking to segregation” (2005)

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Civilisation des pays anglophones 1

Multiculturalism in United Kingdom

The Uk as a diverse, often divided country/society.

- The different, often rival, nationalisms

The UK as a fractured society?

- The Uk as a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-faith society

- Ethnicity as part of the official census

- Respondents asked to identify their own ethnicity

Variable across the country - London 40% BAME population

86,0% of the population is White

Representation and ethnicity

People living in the UK born abroad, Daily Mail June 2023

- Media debate around migration

Religion in The UK:

- Multiculturalism, if we wish to give a precise meaning to this word, is not synonymous

- Post-WW2 British economic recovery and the need for workers

Négative reactions: Teddy Boys; Union

Riots August/September: racially motivated:

20 April 1968 Enoch Powell (Conservative MP) 'Rivers of blood' speech:

Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962

Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968

Race Relations Act 1965

Race Relations Act 1968

Discrimination and tensions

• Riots regular occurrence: 1985, 1991, 1992, 1995, 2000..

Brexit and xenophobia:

- The EU enlargement and immigration into the UK

Success or failure of multiculturalism ?

Controversy: multiculturalism - success or failure?

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