UK NGOs Against Racism

UK NGOs Against Racism Note on Multiculturalism and Integration

This week members of the Committee have asked questions relating to multiculturalism and integration. We have prepared this short note seeking to clarify the relationship of these two concepts in the context of the issues before the Committee. We hope that it may be of some assistance.

We are concerned that discussions of integration and multiculturalism as currently articulated by Prime Minister David Cameron and the coalition government perpetuate a narrative of ‘Us and Them’ with minority communities defined by dominant communities as the ‘Other’. What is often denied in the conceptualisations is the racism that minority communities are subject to because of the power hierarchies operating within society from which minority communities are invisible and excluded.

Such discussions are almost wholly the preserve of academics, politicians and the media.

Well-functioning multicultural communities are often the passive recipients of a portrayal which does not reflect their reality.

Multiculturalism and integration are not exclusive concepts. They are interdependent. To achieve harmonious societies there needs to be an acceptance of both integration and multiculturalism.

Multiculturalism Various explanations of multiculturalism have been put forward over recent years: “Multiculturalism is sometimes taken to mean that different cultural communities should live their own ways of life in a self-contained manner. This is not its only meaning and in fact it has long been obsolete.

Multiculturalism basically means that no culture is perfect or represents the best life and that it can therefore benefit from a critical dialogue with other cultures. In this sense multiculturalism requires that all cultures should be open, self-critical, and interactive in their relations with other each other” Lord Parekh author of The future of multi-ethnic Britain, 2000, quoted on BBC News 5 April 2004 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3600791.stm A more recent explanation, published shortly after David Cameron’s speech in Munich in 2011 “The right to assert autonomy and cultural difference underpinned by an understanding that national identity is just one among many identities and may well not be the primary one: an affirmation of plurality against calls for assimilation that attempt to first invent and then enforce "British values" and other national orthodoxies.

You don't give anti-Semitism a pass if it comes from a Muslim any more than one would give Islamophobia a pass if it came from a Jew. If a state forces women to wear a burqa, we should oppose that. And if the state bans women from wearing a burqa, we should oppose that too. Because as feminists and progressives we believe the state has no right to tell women what to wear.”

Gary Younge The Guardian 14 March 2011 Multiculturalism therefore should not be perceived as a superficial expression of ‘tolerance’ for other cultures; contrary to the views in race-hate propaganda, it is not something which is foist upon an unwilling indigenous population.

Instead, multiculturalism is an integral part of the success of British society. Multiculturalism is the economic generator of our major cities; it is the driving force behind the success of public services such as the NHS and enhances the cultural richness of Britain which enables it to enjoy a competitive position internationally.

Integration Integration is the process of all people within the community living and working together. It involves having a shared understanding of each other’s identity and culture. True integration is based on a mutual process of adaptation involving change in values norms and behaviour for newcomers and members of receiving society. This contrasts with assimilation in which the total burden of adjustment and change falls only on the newcomer.

Integration is something which is generally desired by all. Integration is likely to fail if the expectation is that change must come from the newcomer only. Integration also fails where there are societal barriers, such as wide economic inequality or distrust between the different groups. Research has shown that there is greater social mobility within ethnic minority communities where they have the economic means, for example to move to a more ‘mixed’ affluent area.

24 August 2011