Multiculturalism in the UK or the end of a Utopia?

Résumé du document

Have you ever tried to fill in a job application form in the UK? If so, you may have been surprised, as a foreigner, to be asked the colour of your skin (white British, white West European, white East European, black, etc.). In France such a thing has long been unfeasible, even if today, the debate is re-opened between those who think it is a restriction to individual freedom and those who think it makes it easier to fight discrimination. Such a question however does not really seem to bother anyone in the United Kingdom. Far from it. This country has long been proud of its multicultural dimension, fiercely criticizing the assimilation model of France. And yet, looking back at the history of Britain, discrimination has always existed and socioeconomic inequalities have progressively turned into a more cultural or ethnic exclusion.

Extraits

[...] There are indeed several manifestations of the erosion of society today in Britain. The British National Party for instance, who uses the theme of the easy relation between immigration, multiculturalism and terrorism, is nowadays a flourishing party, for whom more and more citizens vote. Another negative aspect of the crisis of multiculturalism in the UK today is reflected through the worryingly low feeling of “belonging” to the national community by Muslims themselves: only 19% of British Muslims declare themselves firstly as British citizens and then as Muslims while 54% of French Muslims declare themselves as firstly French (and yet, the French riots from November 2005 are not very convincing either in the field of integration)[8]. [...]

[...] Consequently, many denounce the effects of multiculturalism on the cohesion of society. For Trevor Phillips - who chairs the Commission for Racial Equality the term "multiculturalism" suggests separateness and has ceased to be useful in modern Britain[5]. The Indian economist Amartya Sen has shown that after having been efficient a while, British multiculturalism was victim of a double optical illusion: first, “cultural liberty” was mixed up with “cultural conservatism” where blind adhesion to heritages, included the worse, often lead to excess. [...]

[...] It is in this context that the first multicultural policies appeared in the 1960s. They were originally designed to strengthen engagement and relations between Britain and its different ethnic communities. These policies were then followed by successive governments, with more or less efficiency. If the necessity to control the immigration rapidly occurred, it did not prevent the adoption of anti-racist laws. If the necessity to control the immigration rapidly occurred, it did not prevent the adoption of anti-racist laws. The first laws limiting the immigration towards Britain were taken in 1962 by the Conservative government of Harold Macmillan. [...]

[...] There is now a real trouble in the UK and since the recent discovery of terror plots on transatlantic flights in August 2006, the whole country has now been considering the limits of the famous multicultural model. In addition to that, the veil affair has come to aliment a bit more the controversy. It is besides quite fun to note that three years only after the French veil affaire which was so heavily criticised over the Channel, England was also obliged to take similar ban measures. In both countries, the same arguments could be heard (the sacred character of religious freedom on one side, the principle of sex equality and women emancipation on the other side). [...]

[...] Unlike the anti-immigration laws, the antiracist laws were mostly taken only by the British Labour Party. In 1965, the Race Relation Acts then the Acts of 1968 and 1976, aimed to fight racial discrimination in public place (bars for example), at work and for seeking habitation access. These policies try and implement protections for minorities so they would not suffer from any discrimination and would benefit from a real “chance of equality”. The opportunity to vote is granted to all citizens coming from the Commonwealth and living by right on the territory. [...]