Is Britain becoming too diverse to sustain the mutual obligations behind a good society and the welfare state?
by David Goodhart / February 20, 2004 / Leave a commentPublished in February 2004 issue of Prospect Magazine
Britain in the 1950s was a country stratified by class and region. But in most of its cities, suburbs, towns and villages there was a good chance of predicting the attitudes, even the behaviour, of the people living in your immediate neighbourhood.
In many parts of Britain today that is no longer true. The country has long since ceased to be Orwell’s “family” (albeit with the wrong members in charge). To some people this is a cause of regret and disorientation – a change which they associate with the growing incivility of modern urban life. To others it is a sign of the inevitable, and welcome, march of modernity. After three centuries of homogenisation through industrialisation, urbanisation, nation-building and war, the British have become freer and more varied. Fifty years of peace, wealth and mobility have allowed a greater diversity in lifestyles and values. To this “value diversity” has been added ethnic diversity through two big waves of immigration: first the mainly commonwealth immigration from the West Indies and Asia in the 1950s and 1960s, followed by asylum-driven migrants from Europe, Africa and the greater middle east in the late 1990s.
The diversity, individualism and mobility that characterise developed economies – especially in the era of globalisation – mean that more of our lives is spent among strangers. Ever since the invention of agriculture 10,000 years ago, humans have been used to dealing with people from beyond their own extended kin groups. The difference now in a developed country like Britain is that we not only live among stranger citizens but we must share with them. We share public services and parts of our income in the welfare state, we share public spaces in towns and cities where we are squashed together on buses, trains and tubes, and we share in a democratic conversation – filtered by the media – about the collective choices we wish to make. All such acts of sharing are more smoothly and generously negotiated if we can take for granted a limited set of common values and assumptions. But as Britain becomes more diverse that common culture is being eroded.
You have now reached your allowance of 3 free articles in the last 30 days.
Don’t worry—to get another 7 articles absolutely free, just enter your email address in the box below.
You are in complete control of which 7 articles you choose to read. Register now to enjoy more of the finest writing on politics, economics, literature, the arts, philosophy and science.
When you register, we’ll also send you our free e-book—The past in perspective—which considers how reflecting on the past can give great insight into the present AND we’ll send you our free weekly newsletter. (If you prefer not to receive the newsletter you can unsubscribe at any time).
Prospect takes your privacy seriously. We promise never to rent or sell your e-mail address to any third party.
You can unsubscribe from the Prospect e-mail newsletter at any time.
How did welfare claimants come to be seen as scroungers? « Daily news
Who killed the British welfare state? – Telegraph Blogs
1.2 Guillaume Faye’s Meta-Political Dictionary | Radish
The Nation Looms… | Back Towards the Locus
The British Dream by David Goodhart; The Diversity Illusion by Ed West – review
LED Lighting News » Blog Archive » The British Dream by David Goodhart; The Diversity Illusion by Ed West – review
THE PROBLEM IS NOT IMMIGRATION. IT’S THE OBSESSION WITH IT. | Pandaemonium
Andrew Smith
Residents of more ethnically diverse neighbourhoods actually reported higher levels of social cohesion | British Politics and Policy at LSE
IN DEFENCE OF DIVERSITY | Pandaemonium
Another Kind of Diversity | Uncouth Reflections
When it comes to diversity, most of us vote with our feet » Spectator Blogs
Immigration helps build stronger communities – Society Central