[anais-anais]

What is Britishness?and its relation with multiculturalism?
THANX A LOT

[MrJohnDClare]

The idea of 'Britishness' was raised after 2005 by Gordon Brown as a response to the July 7th bombers, and also to separatism in Scotland and Wales.
The idea is that the people of the United Kingdom ARE united by something more than administrative institutions.

But what? The government asked people to suggest what 'Britishness' was - which led to a number of stereotyped suggestions from such as John Major ("long shadows on cricket grounds, warm beer, green suburbs, dog lovers and 'old maids bicycling to holy communion through the morning mist'." )

Immigrants seeking residence in Britain now also are expected to take a Britishness test.

The problem is that 'Britishness' for an old pensioner in Somerset is very different from ‘Britishness’ for a Black teenager in London, and The Guardian has pointed out that while we would probably stress our ‘amiable eccentricities’ such as talking about the weather and queuing, and our historical traditions of freedom and democracy, the legacy of empire means that for many nations overseas 'Britishness' would mean pride, racism, nationalism and imperialism.

A government Green Paper found that many white British people defined 'Britishness' in terms of traditions, customs and advantages which were disappearing. For yhem 'Britishness' was the (mythical?) world that we were losing to modern life.

In short, there is no such thing as 'britishness'; it is a government construct.

Google 'Britishness', followed by other key words such as definitions, Brown, immigrants, test, Blunkett, overseas, "Green Paper" etc.


'Multiculturalism' is one approach to the wide variety of ethnic and cultural groups which now exist side-by-side in Britain today. It accepts all ethnic and cultural traditions as valid and equal, and tries to make allowances for them (so Council leaflets will be printed in many different langues etc.). Groups are encouraged to retain and celebrate their different customs and ways of life. The danger of this is that groups become separated and isolated, and it was felt that multiculturalim contributed to the sense of alienation which led the British-born Muslims to explode the July 7th bombs.

Multiculturalism is opposed by 'integration' - the attitude (increasingly powerful after 2005) that, if people come to live in Britain, they ought to adopt 'our' way of life and doing things. There is the feeling that immigrants ought to make the effort to learn English etc. The Life in the UK test, for example, was born of integration. You may also remember that Jack Straw refused to talk to Muslim women who covered their faces. The problem with this approach is that itis confrontational, and it deprives immigrants and ethnic groups of what many see as their right to be who they are.

After 2008, government has increasingly come to speak of 'poly-culturalism' - of a society comprised omany different cultures, but one where the different tradtions communicatre and interact.

[anais-anais]

oh great.thanks a lot Sir