Diversity and identity in societal context: introductory remarks (original) (raw)

The centre for the study of ethnicity and citizenship: Multiculturalism, racialisation, religion and national identity twenty years on

Ethnicities, 2022

In November 2019, a conference was held at the University of Bristol to mark the twentieth anniversary of the Centre for the Study of Ethnicity and Citizenship. This special issue of Ethnicities brings together a set of articles by a number of the keynote speakers at that conference. By doing so, it celebrates the Centre's achievements over these two decades, reveals how the field has changed over the last twenty years, gives a good indication of the range of the Centre's current activities and also hints at some of the directions which it may take in the future.

British Multiculturalism and the Politics of Representation

British Multiculturalism and the Politics of Representation, 2017

What is the connection between inclusion, exclusion and identity? This book argues that the politics of inclusion and identity should be studied as struggles over the representations of the identities involved. The book engages with a range of debates and themes including Britishness, race, the nature and role of Islam in British society, homelessness and social justice, and it adopts a post-structuralist approach to the theoretical and practical issues surrounding inclusion, exclusion and identity. The argument is developed through careful analyses of cases from the last four decades of British multiculturalism. Each chapter deals with a concept and practice of inclusion: equality, recognition, tolerance and hospitality. Each chapter also deals with one or more cases: Gordon Brown’s and David Cameron’s different versions of Britishness, the legal case Mandla; the debate between Bhikhu Parekh and Brian Barry; newspaper coverage and debates about Begum, X v Y, Playfoot and Watkins-Si...

Modood, T, Uberoi, V and Thompson, S. (Eds) Multiculturalism, Religion, Secularism and Nationalism, Ethnicities, advance online (Special Issue based on the plenaries from conference marking the 20th anniversary of the Centre for the Study of Ethnicity and Citizenship, November, 2019).

Ethnicities, 2022

For twenty years, researchers at the University of Bristol’s Centre for the Study of Ethnicity and Citizenship have led both academic and public debates about Muslims, racisms, multiculturalism, different forms of minority identity, and the place of religion in public life. In November 2019, in order to mark the twentieth anniversary of the Centre’s work, a conference entitled Multiculturalism, Nationalism, Secularism and Religion took place at the University of Bristol. This special issue of Ethnicities gathers together the papers given by the plenary speakers. Individually, each article, by leading figures in their field, insightfully analyses the directions that debates about religious and cultural diversity are currently taking, and they make intriguing proposals about the new directions that these debates should take in the future. This includes the relationship between majority and minority cultural rights, the politics and politicisation of cultural practices, the role of religion and religious identity in achieving important social goals, the development of the study of nationalism through a series of distinct phases, and the evolution of political policies towards minorities from forms of inclusion to forms of securitisation.

Integration and identity in an international context: Problems and ambiguities in the new politics of multiculturalism

Political Studies Review, 2009

Debates about multiculturalism, minority rights, and identity dominated Anglo-American political theory during the majority of the 1990s, and continue to raise important questions concerning the nature of citizenship, community, and the responsibilities of liberal states. They were popular, too, among policy makers, politicians, and journalists: many academics and practitioners were, for a time, united in their support for multiculturalism. Just as the philosophical literature at that time became more ‘multiculturalist’, so many European states increasingly adopted multiculturalist policies as a way of including historically marginalised groups into mainstream liberal culture or, in some cases, as a way of protecting minority groups from unfair pressures from the majority culture. However, as time has gone on, the multiculturalist turn in liberal political theory, and among many European governments, has waned. In the wake of terrorist atrocities around the world, growing concerns about the erosion of civic and national identity, and fears that cultural recognition can permit illiberal practices, many academics and practitioners have sought to distance themselves from the idea that it is a role of the state to afford special treatment to cultural minorities, and have sought once again to emphasise those common bonds which unite citizens of liberal democratic states, rather than those cultural identities which may serve to divide them. This article evaluates some of the recent philosophical literature on multiculturalism against the changing political landscape in Britain and Europe and suggests that the multiculturalist position remains weakened by a number of crucial ambiguities.

Citizenship, ethnicity and identity

Sociology, 2005

There have been few studies of citizenship as an identity. This paper explores citizenship as an identity among British-Pakistanis in Bradford after the 'riot' in 2001 using qualitative data. The 2001 'riots', the political successes of the British National Party and the events after September 11 th pushed British-Pakistani Muslims into the forefront of national political conflicts around citizenship, national identity and allegiance to the state. Through the analysis of interviews with both first and second generation British-Pakistanis we examine how citizenship as a mode of identity is contextualised by them in relation to national identity, Islam and ethnicity. We identify the two generations' different 'citizenship identities'. The second generation have a strong British identity as 'British citizen' with the 'natural rights' of a British born citizen. In contrast the first generation migrants from Pakistan express identifies as 'denizens' living but not belonging in a foreign country who remain because their children are now 'British'.

Muslims in Britain: questioning Islamic and national identity

Indonesian Journal of Islam and Muslim Societies, 2012

Islamic identity has been a central issue since the emergence of Islam in theseventh century. Muslims have been interacted with many symbols of religiousidentity since this early time of Islam. Every generation of Muslims has their ownway to show their religious identity. Muslims in Britain are also still continuing tosearch for religious identity. They seek to re-evaluate their identity and constructa sense of what it means to be a Muslim in Britain today. This article would like toelaborate several discussions on Muslims’ identities in Britain. There are twodifferent opinions on this issue. The first opinion comes from Muslims who believethat a Muslim individual should choose to be either a Muslim or a British.They argue that national values differ from religious norms. The second, however,states that one Muslim can be both a Muslim and a British at the same time.For them, there is no contradiction between being a Muslim and being a Britishcitizen. They argue that nationality and ...