Britishness, Englishness and the UK Multiculturalism Debate 16 October 2012 Multiculturalism-Key Issues
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Nationalism in International Context 3. Britishness, Englishness and the UK Multiculturalism Debate 16 October 2012 Multiculturalism-Key Issues • Problem: Ethnic Diversity in one State (i.e., demographic multiculturalism) • Form of Ethnic Conflict Regulation (e.g., cf. McGarry/O’Leary’s taxonomy) • Multiculturalism as public policy and ideology – Public policy - humane assimilation, cosmopolitanism or consociationalism? Different Varieties of Ethnic Diversity in the UK • STATE: Britain • NATION: England, Scotland, Wales, Ulster/Ireland • PRIMARY ETHNIES: English, Scots, Welsh, Ulster-Protestants, Irish Nationalists • SECONDARY ETHNIES: E.g., Jews, Bengalis, Turkish Cypriots. Origins of British National Identity • British State-national identity post-1707 – Empire, Protestantism, ‘Anglo-Saxonism’, Liberal-Democratic-Capitalism, Whiteness → Ethnic elements and statist elements – Scotland, Wales, Ireland • British Ethnic-national identity – Canada, Australia, South Africa, Ulster, England? (i.e., Britain as an extension of England) • A ‘thicker’ Britishness than today. Empire and English National Identity • English ethnic; national identity submer- ged/expressed through British symbols • Krishan KUMAR’s ‘thicker’ English nationalism: Expansive and universalist rather than introspective (The Making of English National Identity, 2003) • But were ethnic elements of identity really so marginal in Britain? Primary Ethnicity and Regional Nationalism under Empire • Scots retained Presbyterian Kirk; Legal, Educational institutions; Local Government • Welsh have dissenting religious traditions/language/culture • Scottish and Welsh political nationalism remained weak until 1960s-70s • Resistance to idea of Home Rule • Devolution only in 1970s: asymmetrical federalism. Secondary Ethnicity • Secondary ethnicity: Huguenots 17th C., Scots 18th C., Irish & Jews 19th C.-20th C., West Indians & Subcontinent after 1948 • Numbers never enormous nationally • Big local effect: Irish in Liverpool and Glasgow, Jews in East End • Local Ethnic Concentrations Today: South Asians in parts of London and the northern Mill Towns (Oldham, Burnley, Bradford). Ethnic Assimilation • Multi-stage: economic, cultural, marital, identificational, ancestral (cf. Gordon 1964) • Huguenots – James Molyneaux (UUP) – Surname like Fletcher or Gascoigne seen as English – American Revolutionary Paul Revere • Irish and Jews – Decline of sectarianism in Merseyside/Lancashire; – Are P. Mandelson or M. Howard Jews or English? – Intermarriage leads to change in identity for many of the 25% of English with Irish blood. Resistance to Ethnic Assimilation • ‘Counter-entropic’ traits (Gellner): ‘race’, religion • Afro-Caribbeans, despite race have 30-40% intermarriage rate. Offspring of these marriages over 90% marry whites • Major decline in Afro-Caribbean population through intermarriage • Opposite story for South Asian Muslims • High Muslim endogamy and religious retention. Muslim Religious Retention Religious Retention by Faith and Birthplace, UK, 2001-3 (Excludes nonidentifiers. 'Practice' is self-description) 100% UK BP Muslims 90% Foreign BP Muslims 80% UK Afro Christians 70% Foreign Afro Christians 60% 50% UK White Christians 40% Foreign White Christians 30% 20% 10% 0% 2001 2003 Attend Worship* Retain Religious Practice* Inter-Ethnic Violence • 1958 Notting Hill - White-Black Riots • 1981 Toxteth Riot – Police v. Black Youths • 2001 Mill Town Riots: Oldham, Bradford, Leeds, Burnley - White-Asian violence → Shift to White-Asian clashes → Blacks v. State, but not v. Whites → South Asians v. Whites, but not v. State → Cantle 2006: segregation and political multi- culturalism partly to blame for inter-ethnic tension • 2011, August, England – Race Riots? Indexes of Acculturation • E.g., education intra-family language use; media consumption; food preferences. • Education records: vary by ethnic group – British-born South Asians do much better than their foreign-born parents – Hindus, Ugandan Asians and Indian Muslims do better than Bangladeshis and Pakistanis – Worst performing are poor whites and blacks at the bottom of the economic ladder. Multicultural policy: Consociationalism? • Community Autonomy ? – Faith Schools - hard fought Roman Catholic- Protestant battles in early 20th C. – Culture Funding for newspapers, associations and projects – Public services in other languages? – Ethnic ‘Leaders’ in Local Government and seeking Public Funding. [ctnd.]Multicultural policy: Consociationalism? • Grand Coalition? – No • Mutual Veto? – No • Proportionality? – No PR, but effort to run minority candidates – Cabinet representation? Not yet. – No explicit ‘affirmative action’ in university admissions and public employment; housing. • But soft ‘targets’ rather than hard ‘quotas’ (CRE) British Consociationalism? An Assessment • Some community autonomy • Some proportionality • Why not more? – small minority population (under 9 pc.) – secondary ethnicity. Symbolic Multiculturalism UK • Multic.-ism mainly expressed through symbolism • ‘Thinning’ of national symbolism and narrative • Exclusive elements culled • Official pronouncements (cool Britannia, national diversity) • School texts, on BBC, NHS, etc. (Multifaith, Multilanguage, Multiracial imagery) • Private sector takes cue from public (i.e., diversity training, diversifying workplace policies). What does Multicult.-ism Want? • Multiculturalism based on rejection of dominant ethnicity (strict immigration control; assimilation) • Harder to say what it supports: – Pol.-econ. integration or parallel institutions? – Inter-ethnic marriage or endogamy? – Cultural ‘hybridity’ or cultural retention? – Shared cosmopolitan values or cultural diversity? – Ethnic diversity or trans-ethnic diversity? • Hybridity (diversity within individuals) or ‘Multieth- nicism’ (diversity btw. groups of similar individuals)? → Does hybridity not lead eventually to monoculturalism? The Fate of Multiculturalism • ‘Multiculturalism’ as unofficial policy • Turning point is Parekh report 2000 – Draws on academic theorists like P. Gilroy and W. Kymlica – J. Straw condemns equation Britishness- whiteness – JS forwards a ‘thin’ narrative based on ‘British values’ • Unclear what is meant by ‘multiculturalism’ – Attacked or supported in different ways by various actors (cf. Meer/Modood 2009: 476). What is Multiculturalism? • Between Assimilation (elimination) and Consociation (management) lies ‘integration’ → high-wire act? weasel word? • Multiculturalists (e.g., T. Modood, P. Gilroy) argue for two-way integration • Civic nationalists more pro one-way integration (e.g., J. Straw, D. Blunkett, D. Goodhart) • Integration: economic and political, but what about culture, identity, marriage, ethnicity? 2001 [...] • Loss of support in the centre • Street confrontations; riots Northern cities • Straw talks tough on integration; Britishness • 9/11 and the ‘war on terrorism’ • ‘Beyond Multiculturalism’ – CRE, Prospect, Observer, Guardian, Channel 4 openDemocracy, British Council, etc. 2003 […] • Trevor Phillips, CRE Head in 2003, initially backs Parekh and other multic. initiatives • Goodhart 2004 art.; Phillips initially a critic • Phillips’ 2004 turn, deriding multic.-ism in favour of integration and Britishness • Promoting a civic nationalism based on ‘values’. (Mainly about integration in the socioeconomic sphere, the use of English, support for universal values) • 7/7 2005 bombings, anti-multiculturalism backlash (continuing up to the present). British State-national Identity • New Labour: from ‘cool Britannia’ to J. Straw, D. Blunkett, G. Brown • Emphasis on British ‘values’: inclusive and universal • Selective use of the past to bolster liberal-egalitarian narrative • In opposition to English and other nationalisms/ethnicities • Possible contradiction between Britishness and Devolution And the ‘Ethnic’ Dimension? English Ethnicity and Nationhood • Goodhart article: Diversity v. Solidarity (2004) • Diversity and (Dis)Trust (Putnam) • Question of immigration control • Recognition of majority English ethnic group? The British Far Right • Not part of mainstream debate • English or British ethnic nationalism • “We, the native British people” are on track to become a minority within 60 years • In order to keep ‘homeland’: – Halt immigration; – ‘Clamp down’ on asylum seekers; – Voluntary, subsidized repatriation; – End affirmative action for minorities. Main ‘Schools’ of Thought • Perhaps 5 Positions: 1. ETHNIC NATIONALIST BNP, T. Linsell, R. Scruton? 2. CIVIC NATIONALIST-RESTRICTIVE D. Goodhart, New Labour?, UKIP 3. CIVIC NATIONALIST-LIBERAL T. Phillips, New Labour?, K. Malik, A. Bhatt? 4. COSMO-MULTICULTURALIST T. Modood?, P. Gilroy, A. Bhatt 5. COMMUNAL MULTICULTURALIST B. Parekh?, Muslim Council of Britain .