Search

On 1 January 2014 the transitional controls on free movement adopted by the UK when Bulgaria and Romania joined the EU in 2007, ended. This paper demonstrates how the discourses of politicians relating to their removal, amplified via news media contributed to the extension of state bordering practices further into everyday life. Based on ethnographic research into everyday bordering during 2013–15 the paper uses an intersectional framework to explore how this homogenizing, bordering discourse was experienced and contested from differently situated perspectives of Roma and non-Roma social actors from established communities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper is concerned with re-imaginings of 'Europe' following the accession to the European Union (EU) of former 'Eastern European' countries. In particular it explores media representations of post-EU accession migration from Romania to the United Kingdom in the UK and Romanian newspaper press. Todorova's (1997) notion of Balkanism is deployed as a theoretical construct to facilitate the analysis of these representations as first, the continuation of long-standing and deeply embedded imaginings of the 'East' of Europe and, second, as a means of contesting these discourses. The paper explores the way in which the UK press construct Balkanist discourses about Romania and Romanian migrants, and then analyses how the Romanian press has contested such discourses. The paper argues that the idea of the 'East' remains important in constructing notions of 'Europe' within popular media geographies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that a two-tier system has evolved dividing intra-UK/EU marriages from extra-UK/EU marriages. For the former, marriage is a contract between two individuals overseen by a facilitating state. For the latter, marriage has become more of a legal status defined and controlled by an intrusive and obstructive state. I argue that this divergence in legislating regulation is steeped in an ethnicized imagining of ‘Britishness’ whereby the more noticeably ‘other’ migrants (by skin colour or religion) are perceived as a threat to the national character. The conceptualization of women as legally ‘disabled’ citizens (1870 Naturalisation Act) for whom a state must act as responsible patriarch, is a fundamental part of this imagining of the nation. The paper therefore examines the social (gendered and ethnicized) assumptions and political aims embedded within the legislation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The increasing ethnic diversity of the UK has been mirrored by growing public awareness of multicultural issues, alongside developments in academic and government thinking. This paper explores the contested meanings around ethnic identity/ies in community settings, drawing on semi-structured interviews with staff from Children's Centres and allied agencies conducted for a research project that examined the relationship between identity and the participation of parents/carers in services in northeast England. The research found that respondents were unclear about, especially, white ethnic identities, and commonly referred to other social categorizations, such as age, nationality, and circumstances such as mobility, when discussing service users. While in some cases this may have reflected legitimate attempts to resist over-ethnicizing non-ethnic phenomena, such constructions coexisted with assumptions about ethnic difference and how it might translate into service needs. These findings raise important considerations for policy and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public discourses on citizenship, identity and nationality, which link geographical borders and the political boundaries of a community, are infused with tensions and contradictions. This paper illustrates how these tensions are interwoven with multilayered notions of home, belonging, migration, citizenship and individual's ‘longing just to be’, focusing on the Dutch and the British context. The narratives of a number of Dutch and British women, who either immigrated to the respective countries or were born to immigrants, illustrate how the growing rigid integration and assimilative discourses in Europe contradict an individual anchoring in national and local communities. The narratives of women participating in these studies show multilayered angles of belonging presenting an alternative to the increasing strong argument for a fixed notion of positioning and national belonging. The female ‘new’ citizens in our study tell stories of individual choices, social mobility and a sense of multiple belonging in and across different communities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, I explore similarities and differences between the first major scheme to rely on migrants from Central and Eastern Europe to fill vacancies in key sectors of the British economy—the so-called European Volunteer Worker (EVW) schemes introduced in 1946—and current economic migration from the same countries of origin, following the expansion of the EU in 2004. The first scheme was in part a response to postwar dislocation in Europe and the huge problem of displaced peoples. However, the recruits were admitted to the UK as economic migrants rather than as refugees and had to accept allocation to particular sectors of employment as a condition of entry. In the period since 2004, large numbers of migrants from similar parts of Europe have been recruited to work in the UK, largely in low-wage sectors, and in the most recent version of New Labour's managed migration policy are seen as replacements for low-skilled migrants from other regions of the world. Both the early and later groups are white, raising interesting questions about the social construction and meaning of 'whiteness' and its status as a marker of privilege in the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the relationships between the migratory policies of the EU countries with more experience of immigration and their national political cultures. It focuses on France, Germany and the United Kingdom. It then looks at Italy, a relatively new country of immigration, which, with 3,000,000 legal immigrants, has become the fourth country of immigration in Europe and the first in the Mediterranean basin. In its final part it highlights the incipient process of 'communitarisation' of the immigration policies of EU countries in the last decade. This process, which has already entailed a significant convergence of their migratory policies, is expected to continue after the recent enlargement of the European Union. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neville Laski, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews from 1932 to 1939, led Anglo-Jewry through the most challenging period in its modern history. Internally, the community was deeply divided, with half a century of mass immigration placing great strain on its pre-existing structures and institutions, and particularly the traditional elites who controlled them. Externally, it faced the unprecedented threat of an emerging domestic fascist movement, while also dealing with the consequences of growing antisemitic persecution in continental Europe. Despite playing a leading role in responding to these developments, Laski has received remarkably little attention from historians. Where he has, the consensus is that he failed to rise to the challenges of the 1930s, acting as an impediment to internal reform and remaining complacent and ineffective in his response to antisemitism. Drawing on a range of contemporary sources, Tilles's article offers a comprehensive reassessment of Laski's role. It argues that he acted as a transitional figure between the rule of the old, anglicized elites and the new immigrant community, seeking to balance the demands of competing factions. Meanwhile, his defence policy against antisemitism was not only active and effective, but eventually saw all major sections of Anglo-Jewry unite behind his leadership in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focusing on Muslim participation in the governance of Leicester in the East Midlands of England, this article contests prevalent assumptions about the contemporary politics of multiculturalism. Specifically, it questions two narratives on the subject: first, a descriptive narrative about multiculturalism being in retreat; and second, a normative narrative about multiculturalism undermining national culture. Using interview, ethnographic and archival research, the article shows how a programme of multicultural politics has been implemented in Leicester that, while shifting, has remained firmly in place across national political and policy changes. It also demonstrates how this model of multicultural practice has emphasized civic communitarianism and utilized British national traditions. Using the above methods, the article questions the terms of political debate about multiculturalism, and considers how ‘convivial’ and ‘communitarian’ theoretical approaches to multiculturalism can renew and refashion multicultural political practice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Pemberton S. and Stevens C. The recruitment and retention of Central and Eastern European migrant workers in the United Kingdom: a panacea or a problem under the new policies of 'managed migration'?, Regional Studies. The latest changes in the UK government's managed migration policy with the introduction of a new Points-Based System have been recognized as privileging White European economic migrant workers - including those from Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries - at the expense of low-skilled (non-White) workers from outside of the European Union. However, analysis reveals that a series of recruitment and retention barriers may impinge upon the 'effectiveness' of such a strategy - particularly the intersection of CEE migrant 'agency' with labour market opportunities and UK immigration/welfare policies. In turn, a reassessment of the current approach to 'managed migration' is advocated. [image omitted] Pemberton S. et Stevens C. Recruter et sauvegarder les travailleurs immigres de l'Europe centrale et orientale au Royaume-Uni (R-U): un atout ou un inconvenient en vertu des nouvelles politiques 'd'immigration administree'?, Regional Studies. On considere que les dernieres modifications a la politique d'immigration administree menee par le gouvernement au R-U, y compris la mise au point d'un systeme de points, favorisent les travailleurs immigres pour des raisons economiques qui sont europeens et blancs - y compris ceux qui proviennent des pays de l'Europe centrale et orientale (Peco) - au depens des travailleurs non-qualifies (de couleur) venant des pays au dela des frontieres de l'Ue. Cependant, l'analyse laisse voir une serie d'obstacles au recrutement et a la sauvegarde a franchir qui pourraient affecter 'l'efficacite' d'une telle strategie - notamment l'intersection de 'l'agence' des immigres en provenance des Peco avec les possibilites d'emploi sur le marche du travail et les politiques du R-U quant a l'immigration/au bien-etre. On prone egalement une reevaluation de l'approche actuelle a 'l'immigration administree'. Migrants venant des Peco pour des raisons economiques Recruter Sauvegarder 'Agence' Politique Pemberton S. und Stevens C. Anwerbung und Beibehaltung von Arbeitskraften aus Mittel- und Osteuropa in Grossbritannien: Allheilmittel oder Problem unter der neuen Politik zur 'kontrollierten Einwanderung'?, Regional Studies. Im Rahmen der neuesten Anderungen in der Politik der britischen Regierung zur kontrollierten Einwanderung wurde ein Punktesystem eingefuhrt, das nach allgemeinem Urteil weisse europaische Wirtschaftsmigranten (einschliesslich der Migranten aus mittel- und osteuropaischen Staaten) gegenuber gering qualifizierten (nicht weissen) Arbeitnehmern aus Nicht-EU-Staaten bevorzugt. Allerdings zeigt sich bei einer Analyse, dass eine Reihe von Hindernissen fur die Anwerbung und Beibehaltung von Arbeitskraften die 'Wirksamkeit' einer solchen Strategie beeintrachtigen konnte; dies gilt insbesondere fur die Schnittstelle zwischen der Tatigkeit von Einwanderern aus Mittel- und Osteuropa und den Chancen auf dem Arbeitsmarkt sowie der Einwanderungs- und Sozialpolitik Grossbritanniens. Aufgrund der Ergebnisse wird eine Neubewertung des derzeitigen Ansatzes fur 'kontrollierte Einwanderung' befurwortet. Wirtschaftsmigranten aus Mittel- und Osteuropa Anwerbung von Arbeitskraften Beibehaltung von Arbeitskraften Tatigkeit Politik Pemberton S. y Stevens C. La captacion y retencion de los trabajadores emigrantes de Europa central y del este en el Reino Unido (RU): ¿una panacea o un problema bajo la nueva politica de migracion gestionada?, Regional Studies. En el marco de los ultimos cambios en la politica de migracion gestionada del Gobierno britanico, se ha introducido un nuevo sistema de puntos que favorece a los trabajadores emigrantes economicos europeos de raza blanca, incluyendo a los de paises de Europa central y del este (ECE), a expensas de los trabajadores menos cualificados (no blancos) de fuera de la Union Europea. Sin embargo, los analisis indican que una serie de obstaculos para la captacion y retencion podrian afectar a la eficacia de una estrategia como esta, especialmente en cuanto a la interseccion de las acciones de emigrantes de paises de ECE con las oportunidades del mercado laboral y las politicas britanicas sobre inmigracion y bienestar. Debido a estos resultados abogamos por una revaloracion del enfoque actual para la emigracion gestionada. Emigrantes economicos de ECE Captacion Retencion Acciones Politica [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United Kingdom has traditionally been united by culture not ethnicity. Immigration has started to threaten this identity because of racism, lack of forethought and ill-conceived multiculturalism. The storm over Archbishop Rowan Williams' Sharia speech revealed how Islam in particular poses a problem. Williams is right to advocate more political pluralism in the face of variegated religious identities which exercise strong social influence but this needs to be an 'organicist' rather than 'liberal' pluralism, if Britain's political and religious inheritance is not to be threatened. The Christian character of Britain actually protects a certain pluralist variety and the role of other faiths, because of the peculiar character of Christianity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]