Universität Hannover, Philosophische Fakultät
Seminar: National Identity and its Representations in Modern British Culture
SS 2006, 6. Semester

The Multiculturalism vs. Integration Debate in Great Britain

by: Joachim von Meien

List of Contents

1) Introduction

2) Definition of Multiculturalism and Integration

3) Main Governmental Multiculturalism Policies

4) Lively discussions in Great Britain about Multiculturalism

4.1 A controversial speech by Trevor Phillips
4.2 Facts about multiculturalism in the UK
4.3 Reactions towards Trevor Phillips speech

5) Conclusion

6) Bibliography and Sources

1) Introduction

Many people across country boarders are familiar with the debate “Multiculturalism vs. Integration”. It is a topic about which TV and newspapers love to report because it is so highly controversial and seems to concern so many watchers and readers. Every ones in a while there is a new wave which pushes the topic on the agenda. Important commentators then tell their opinions about it. But the debate often disappears quickly when the first excitement is over.

This paper focuses on the multiculturalism vs. integration debate in Great Britain which was aggravated by a speech held by Trevor Phillips, head of the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE), in spring 2004. At first it is necessary to give definitions of the rather vague terms “multiculturalism” and “integration”. That will be done in chapter two. Chapter three then introduces four main governmental policies in dealing with multiculturalism and takes a look at their theoretical backgrounds. The main part of this paper, chapter four, deals with the lively multiculturalism vs. integration debate in Great Britain. After the major points of Phillips’ speech are presented it is important to give some general facts about multiculturalism in the UK in order to give the discussion a solid basis. There have been plenty of reactions towards Phillips’ speech. Supporters and opponents of his theses have publicly underlined their statements in manifold opportunities. It is not possible to hear them all. Therefore only a relatively small but hopefully well-balanced selection can be given. Finally some own thoughts and ideas will be presented in the conclusion. Unfortunately most of them can only be causes for thoughts because they again lead to a much wider topic which would be part of a new paper.

2) Definition of Multiculturalism and Integration

Multiculturalism and Integration are terms which do not provide a scientifically undisputable definition. Dealing with the problems and debates concerning the topic one finds many descriptions of what can be meant – partly very individual statements. This proofs that the terms and also the concepts behind them are very vague, which does not make it easy to talk about them.

Multiculturalism is “the doctrine that several different cultures (rather than one national culture) can co-exist peacefully and equitably in a single country.”¹ The “Thesaurus” also gives the antonym of multiculturalism which is according to the dictionary “nationalism”, defined as “the doctrine that your national culture and interests are superior to any other.”² Definitions like the one in the “Thesaurus” are quite frequent. Multiculturalism is often seen as cultural pluralism describing the equal coexistence of many cultures in a locality, without any culture dominating the region. But the term refers to more than just the condition of a society.

It can also mean a certain kind of public policy with an approach for managing cultural diversity in a multiethnic society and thereby officially stressing mutual respect and tolerance for cultural differences within a country’s boarders. The policy definition of multiculturalism rather deals with an active procedure of how to behave in order to achieve a multicultural society or what to do in order to guarantee best living together in an already existing multicultural society. It not only passively describes a condition, as the first kind of definition does.

A third possible use of the term is more enclosed than the others. Some people talk about multiculturalism and only refer to specific districts within mostly big cities, where different cultures live side by side on a small sized (in comparison to a whole country) area. What is important to state for the use of multiculturalism in this paper is that its main element is the equal coexistence of different cultures without one culture having the right to dominate the others, as the least common denominator of a multitude of approaches. There are similar difficulties in defining integration. Some definitions are very close to what is actually meant by multiculturalism as the one by Sir Bernhard Crick who said that “Integration is the co-existence of communities and unimpeded movement between them, it is not assimilation.”³ In his view of integration there is only little difference between what is usually understood by multiculturalism. Crick (born in 1929) is a British political theorist and was an advisor to Labour Party in the 1980s.

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1 http://www.thefreedictionary.com/multiculturalism, 20. July 2006, 12:56

2 ebd., 20. July 2006, 13:00

3 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3600791.stm, 20 July, 13:25