HU0004 Week 2 diversity

British Society and Culture Week 2

DIVERSITY IN BRITAIN

PEDIGREE OR MONGREL NATION?

2500 YEARS OF

INVADERS AND SETTLERS

Last Week

Impressions of the UKIdeas for the moduleWhat is identity?What is Britain/UK? What is Britain like? Geography, climateThe 4 ‘Home Nations’ – Complexity of

British ID – Example of Sport

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Isles_%28terminology%29

Useful visual clarification of all the terms and different parts of the UK

Identity Last week very few of you mentioned nationality as

an important part of your identity.Have you felt differently about your national

identity since coming to the UK?Make a list of those things that are important in

your country’s national identity – What is it that makes someone Nigerian, Swiss, Australian ....?

Does your country have a national day or any other national celebration?

What do we mean by British?

Living in BritainHolding a British passportBorn in BritainFamily in Britain for 2 or more generationsVote in British electionsObey (mostly) British lawsShare (mostly) majority values and attitudesSupport British sports teams

Is there a typical British person or type of behaviour?

What is the term sometimes used to refer to someone or something with lots of common characteristics?

StereotypeWhat are the stereotypes associated with

people from your country?

Are you aware of any British stereotypes?

Example from Italy

British stereotypes?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/76/Fish_and_chips.jpg/800px-Fish_and_chips.jpg

http://www.sports-online.biz/images/cricket8.jpg

http://www.manyhattyreturns.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/gentleman_in_bowler.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Village_green,_Bekonscot.JPG

Last Night of the Proms

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=last+night+of+the+proms&hl=en&prmd=vi&source=univ&tbs=vid:1&tbo=u&ei=BDm0TJjiFIng4waQnZWgDQ&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&ct=title&resnum=5&ved=0CEAQqwQwBA

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3183/2859066501_df87f65a2f_b.jpg

What are some of the key British values and attitudes?

Key elements of Britishness

Diversity/ToleranceDemocracy - Parliamentary traditionModeration, reformist, non-revolutionaryFreedom/civil liberties - JusticePragmatism and practicality over intellectualismEntrepeneurialism – imperialism Individualism, privacy – ‘an Englishman’s home …..?’Stoicism - ‘mustn’t grumble’Scepticism - anti-authoritarian

Diversity and Tolerance - Britain today

From Differences to Diversity

Key features of Britain – diversity and multi-culturalism/multi-ethnicity

Long tradition of peoples coming (and going) – (more later)

Relatively recent expansion – post 1945Consequence of the British Empire and its

demise– communities were established from India/ Pakistan, Africa and the Caribbean – ‘Windrush’.

The Beginnings of Multi-Racial Britain - Windrush

Tilbury, June 22nd 1948

492 passengers, most planning to stay only for a few years.

Many had fought for Britain in WW2, yet initially were not universally welcomed

Impact of Multi-ethnicity

There had long been a ‘black’ presence in Britain – international trade, especially the Slave Trade (Week 4/5)

Elizabeth 1 - ‘the divers blackamoors brought into these realms, of which there already too manie’!

However, the arrival of large numbers of people with skin of a different colour made a significant visible impact.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/modern/windrush_01.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/modern/arrival_01.shtml

• Britain today is culturally and racially a very diverse country.

• London - the most international city in the world

• Communities from all over the world co-existing

• British seen as very tolerant and open-minded• What is the real picture? Does this apply to the

whole UK?• Has it always been like this?

Earlier this year – General Election

Gordon Brown (last PM) and Mrs DuffyShe raised concerns over the level of

immigration (from E Europe) and how it was affecting where she lives, Rochdale.

He described her as ‘a bigoted woman’.Any thoughts?

London Census 1901 and 2001

In the 1901 census 95.5% of Londoners were what would later be classed as 'White British' (66% were born in London, 26% born elsewhere in England or Wales, 1.3% in Scotland  and 1.4% in Ireland).

Of the remaining 4.5%,  0.9% were born in British Empire countries,  and 3.6 % born in 'foreign countries‘ – most of these Russian and E European Jews).

The three largest groups of  foreign born Londoners in 1901 were 39,117 Russians, 27,427 Germans and 15,429 Polish Russians.

2001 - The proportion of 'White British' Londoners had gone down to 72%.

The three largest groups of Londoners with ethnic backgrounds other than white British were  Indian (6%),  Black African (5.2%) and Black Caribbean (4.7%).

Because the figures were based on Greater London, rather than inner London these percentages represented larger numbers of people: the 6% of Indian Londoners represented 436,993 people.

"We celebrate the diversity in our country, get strength from the cultures and the races that go to make up Britain today." Prime Minister Tony Blair, 2 October 2001

"Far from being something which impacts upon UK life I see [diversity] as something that revitalises us and makes us powerful economically.“ N London headteacher

Interviews from the Broadwater Estate in TottenhamSo it fell to one of the estate's oldest residents to

explain its new allure. Mary Kemp, 82, has lived on the estate with her husband, Bill, since it was opened. She said:

"We moved here from a house with no bathroom. It was like a holiday camp and that remains the case. We are pure English and do you know what that means? It means being tolerant of people, regardless of colour or creed. It means embracing people who are different from you. That's why we stayed here."

DVD – BBC Panorama – British IdentityAny comments or reaction?Your own country – any points of comparison?Migration, immigration, national identity or lack of it,

concerns of indigenous populationFor many white British, skin colour is the key markerBut is white skin solid evidence of Britishness? Is there, or has there ever been, people who are ‘pure’

British? Is there a group of people who can claim to be ‘the real

British’?

What are the differences between identity, nationality, citizenship & ethnicity?

Uk citizen seen as neutral, British as legal nationality, i.e., your passport.

‘British’ has political & negative connotations (for some) as signifies a historical role of colonial master or occupying force (as in Northern Ireland).

Great Britain refers to mainland and NI, whereas Britain refers to mainland only.

Cricket as a metaphor for Britishness, a sense of nostalgia for a lost rural idyll.

Citizenship

What does it mean to be a citizen?How do you become a citizen?The citizenship test – is this a good idea?What questions would you put in a test for

people coming to live in your country?What questions should be in a British

citizenship test?

http://www.britishtest.com/ad

http://www.uktestonline.co.uk/

What do you think?

Britain – Mongrel Nation

Between 500BC and the 11th C, 5 peoples arrived in different ways and settled in Britain.

Can you put them in historical order?Anglo-Saxons, Celts, Normans, Romans,

Vikings.