CFP - Recherches britanniques

Migrants, Minorities, Exclusion and National Identities in Britain & the Commonwealth
Recherches britanniques, Issue number 3

Deadline for proposals: May 15, 2012
Deadline for articles: September 30, 2012
Articles online: November 2012

As from the late 1940s, and even more from the 1980s, the United Kingdom has become increasingly multi-ethnic. Along with this demographic change, debates have been going on about the integration of immigrants and the means to fight racial discrimination. Policies to this effect were implemented as from the 1960s and were accompanied by restrictive measures aimed at limiting immigration from outside Europe. Multiculturalism, a concept initially developed in Canada and then exported to Australia and New-Zealand, became the official policy of New Labour in the late 1990s. However, this strategy of recognition and promotion of diversity has been called into question since the 2005 London bombings.

These evolutions contributed to the questioning of the definition of British identity. Since the late 1970s, historians, sociologists as well as politicians have been pondering the evolution of Britishness. This issue may provide an opportunity to discuss the multicultural project and its limits, in Britain and in the Commonwealth, especially as regards Muslim communities. Indeed, since the late 1980s, debates about integration, multiculturalism and national identity have largely focused on them.

It would seem relevant to examine the specificity of the situation of economic migrants and political refugees in each nation of Britain and in the Commonwealth. Authors could try to define national or regional distinctive features concerning immigration laws, but also as regards the integration of migrants. Do national policies interact? To what extent is the status of ethnic minorities dependent on current debates over the redefinition of national identities? Conversely, are reflections on these identities affected by discourses on immigration? Should the cosmopolitan nature of identities be taken for granted in the wake of globalization and should the concept of ‘transnational’ or ‘post-national’ identity be regarded as valid? Patterns of ethnic minority mobilisation and their representation in local and national institutions should also be compared. Likewise, we should take stock of current reflections on access to citizenship, especially regarding naturalisation requirements. 

This issue could also aim at a comparison of perceptions of immigration and integration issues in Britain and in the Commonwealth. Are stronger border controls unanimously supported within the United Kingdom? Are Commonwealth member states as distrustful of immigrants? What are the effects of community cohesion policies promoted under Gordon Brown? Have similar schemes been supported by governments in other countries? Are we in a position to measure the impact of migrants on education systems? What sort of schemes have various countries implemented in order to give minorities easier access to job markets? What part did voluntary and community organisations and private corporations play in this integration process?

Besides its political and social aspects, this theme can also be approached from a cultural history perspective. On the one hand, contributors could examine the representation of immigration in the media (the press, cinema, television, the Internet). How are migrants and ethnic minorities portrayed? To what extent do these pictures influence public opinion? On the other hand, processes of institutionalisation of the memory of immigrant communities through commemorations and museums could be compared, including the use of oral history sources.

Proposals for papers of 1,000 words in length at most as well as a brief CV of the author(s) may be emailed by May 15, 2012 to Gilbert Millat gilbert.millat(a)univ-lille3.fr or Philippe Vervaecke philippe.vervaecke(a)univ-lille3.fr.