ECREA Diaspora, Media and Migration section; School of Media, Film and
Music and
Sussex Centre for Cultural Studies
Multiculturalism: Where Do We Go from Here?
Agirreazkuenaga, Irati (University of Glasgow) and Larrondo, Ainara (University of
the Basque Country)
Beyond a radio for immigrants: Communication strategies to build inclusive
identities within the Basque cultural-linguistic tradition
International migration dynamics have proliferated leading to opportunities to develop
media projects oriented to serve ethnic minorities. In this context, it can be observed a
proliferation of the media for migrants that used a communication strategy very limited to
supply the information, education and entertainment needs of the immigrant population
setting aside the values of integration or multiculturalism here. That is, the principles to
establishing a dialogue between different cultural populations who share the same social
space. With the aim of contributing to the debate, this paper takes as a focal point
Candela radio, a distinctive station that resides in the Basque city of Bilbao influencing
the media offer within the diverse linguistic (100 languages spoken) and cultural context
of the region. Even if the radio was settled almost ten years ago to serve a strong
community of South and Central American immigrants, during the last years it has
undergo an internal restructuring to evolve into a more open radio. It is currently the only
radio station in the metropolitan area of Bilbao experiencing that development. Thus, the
main aim of the study was to determine Candela Radio's involvement in the construction
of a new radio strategy –through routines that follow a certain mindset in their
programming– to arrange an “open radio” where locals are welcomed while the reality of
collectives that have no voice in mainstream media of the Basque Country are
represented. To achieve this objective, the assessment relied on the results of a
qualitative methodology based on in-depth interviews and ethnographic observation
techniques useful for identifying the profile, routines, strategies and characteristics of the
radio and its principal actors. The results make it possible to argue that Candela radio,
as a radio financed by two public institutions, serves as a distinct instrument to gather a
diverse population of Basque native and migrants contributing to a new Latin-Basque
identity.
Ashley, Susan (Northumbria University)
Public multi-culture practices and the politics of recognition in Canada
My research studies sensibilities of ‘heritage’ and ‘citizenship’ expressed by ethnocultural communities through practices of public culture such as exhibitions. In Canada,
the language and techniques of museums and site-based public history has been
adopted and adapted by some ‘multicultural’ groups to make sense of their place within
their new country. Such communicative media forms and practices serve as community
gathering points, take on pedagogical roles, and enable strategic assertion of voice in
the public sphere. This paper will consider the deployment of such ‘ethnic media’ (Karim,
2010) practices from two perspectives: the construction of communities of
belonging within these forms of heritage media, and the enforcement of social inclusion
and ‘forgiveness’ mobilized through such sites from the outside. This enactment of
heritage and citizen-membership is explored through two examples, each involving the
development of public history projects by Canadian ethno-cultural communities: the
Italian-Canadian museum and piazza created in Toronto, and the Sikh Heritage Museum
developed by B.C. Indo-Canadians. Each began as grassroots and amateur
engagements with historical narratives boosting community development. In 2006, the
Government of Canada announced two *Historical Recognition* funding programs that
pumped millions of dollars into these forms of small community-generated sites of
heritage practice. The programs were part of official apologies to those Canadians
affected by government internments and immigration restrictions during the two world
wars. Canada would symbolically atone for past national transgressions by
commemorating and educating the public about the historical experiences and
contributions of ethno-cultural communities. Dozens of community museums, cultural
centres and websites began generating public historical accounts of immigrant
experiences in Canada. The effects of this infusion of funds are explored as a cultural
policy measure aimed at saying ‘sorry’ and (symbolically) promising social, cultural and
historical inclusion. The promised repentance and utopian futures proclaimed in the
resultant celebrations of heritage are inspected in terms of the ways that emotional and
mediatized heritage can embed misconceptions and misrecognition of underlying
politics.
Bourmeche, Fathi (University of Gabés, Tunisia)
EU Immigration in British Media and Heightening of the Debate on
Multiculturalism
This paper seeks to argue that EU immigration was portrayed in British press in a way
that contributed to the increasing debate on multiculturalism. The fifth EU enlargement
resulted in an influx of A8 and A2 immigrants1 which was covered by British newspapers,
emphasising the impact of the new arrivals on the nature of British society. Articles
selected from three tabloids and three broadsheets,2 published from 2004 to 2010, are
analysed, using Maxwell McCombs’ agenda-setting and framing,3 and compared to
opinion polls dealing with similar issues.4 The intention is to show that media portrayal of
the influx affected Britons’ attitudes about the new arrivals, presenting them as a threat
to British society, thus increasing debate on multiculturalism and raising doubts about its
success in Britain.
1
A8 stands for Poland, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania,
Slovakia and Slovenia, added to the EU in May 2004 and A2 stands for Bulgaria and
Romania which joined in January 2007.
2 Tabloids are the Daily Mail and Daily Mirror and the Sun; broadsheets are the Daily
Telegraph, the Guardian and the Independent, chosen for their political affiliation, net
browsers and newspaper market.
3 Maxwell McCombs’ model is based on the assumption that agenda-setting is
concerned with the transfer of salience of the issue, EU immigration in this study, from
the media agenda to the public agenda, and framing, the second-level of agenda setting,
is concerned with the transfer of the different attributes of the issue.
4 The polls are selected from http://www.ipsos-mori.com, among the largest research
companies in Britain, specialised in various areas of research, including media and
technology and social and political research.
Bozdag, Cigdem (Sabanci University, Turkey)
Policies of migration and media in Germany. Oscillating between a guiding culture
and cultural diversity
Multiculturalism was declared “dead” by the German chancellor Angela Merkel in 2010
as she said that “the approach of Multikulti - now we live near each other and are happy
about each other – has failed, has absolutely failed” and she advocated a unifying
German “guiding” culture instead. Even in 2000s, when “cultural diversity” entered the
political agenda on migration as an influential concept, the idea of a “guiding” German
culture remained to be a strong metaphor. This is at the same time a period, in which
Germany started to institutionalize its policies about migration and cultural integration.
The country was officially recognized as an immigration country in 2005. The position of
the commissioner for migration was transformed into a state ministry. The annual
integration summits and the annual Islam conference were introduced as forums to bring
diverse actors from the society, including politicians, migrant organisations and
academics, together. Furthermore, the role of media in the immigration society became
much more visible in policy discussions. A working group called “Media and Migration.
Make use of Diversity!” was built in order to discuss and make recommendations about
various topics such as the improvement of representation of migrants in the media and
their inclusion in media production.
Based on a review of policy measures and literature, this paper will discuss policies of
cultural diversity and media in the last decade in Germany. The paper will argue that
there is an institutionalization and diversification of policies of cultural integration in
Germany in 2000s, which goes hand in hand with the official recognition of the country’s
immigration status. However, despite this increase of institutions and diversification of
policies, there is still an ambivalent attitude towards cultural diversity. Whereas some
policy measures and statements by politicians indicate the will to ‘preserve’ the national
German culture, others present attempts for recognizing cultural differences and
fostering diversity.
Chen, Chun (University of Zürich, Switzerland)
Media Use and Social Integration: An Empirical Study of Student Migrants in
Switzerland
What role do digital media play, especially social media, in the social integration process
and the transformation of cultural identities of migrants in new society? In order to
investigate this question, this research takes student migrants in Switzerland as target
group by applying the online standard survey.
Switzerland is one of the countries with the highest migration percentage in Europe, with
22.4% migrants in its total population. However, since it is a non- EU country, it has a
dual migrant policy system. Based on the “The Free Movement of Persons”
(Personalfreizügigkeit), it has granted people from the EU the priority to enter Swiss
labor market over people from other countries.
One of the most important features of global migration is the highly educated migrant. In
this special setting, this study tries to reveal if different media use behaviors of this
migrant group will result in various identities and integration strategies in this special
European country. The hypothesis is the more migrants use home media, the more likely
they will integrate into the new society, and vice versa. Migrants in this study refer to
people with migration backgrounds, which mean that both foreigners and Swiss whose
parent(s) was/were born outside Switzerland were taken into account.
One standard online survey was sent to all students from bachelor to PhD students at
seven German-speaking universities in Switzerland. 4,308 students participated in the
survey. Finally, 1,756 answers were taken into analysis. In the survey, I have thoroughly
investigated migration backgrounds, use behaviors of tradition media and social media,
language proficiency, the stay wish in host society, cultural identities, social interactions,
life satisfaction, and integration self-assessments. The result shows that there are
distinguished differences of media use behavior and integration between Swiss students
with migrant backgrounds, German-speaking foreign students and non-Germanspeaking foreign students.
Cola, Marta (University of Bedfordshire)
Multiculturalism in Italy: ‘crisis’, ‘failure’ or ‘absence’?
The analysis of multicultural policies between emigration and immigration. Italy used to
be a country of emigration and has also rapidly become, in recent decades, a country of
immigration, experiencing difficulties in the managing the settlement of foreign people.
As Ambrosini and Caneva (2010) note, there is no reference to immigrants and
immigration in the Italian Constitution and the first immigration law appeared only in
1986, followed by few others in the years after. A part from the laws, immigration was
firstly considered as a “pathological” phenomenon by Italian institutions, a social
emergency that had to be resolved quickly.
Nowadays, Italy is experiencing a profound contradiction: the society is becoming more
and more multi-ethnic, but its cultural self-representation tends to reject religious and
cultural plurality. Knowing that multiculturalism is not created by the presence of
immigrants, we must consider that they add other differences to those already existing in
every society and contribute in making those differences more visible.
This paper aims at critical reflecting on the multicultural policies in Italy, where it seems
more appropriate to talk about ‘absence’ of policies, rather than ‘crisis’ or ‘failure’ of
multiculturalism. As the Multiculturalism Policy Index (http://www.queensu.ca/mcp/; last
access January 2014) shows, Italy has not adopted any of the eight policies that capture
the core elements of the `multiculturalist turn’ in relation to immigration. The country
scores in the Index propose that the multicultural turn has been surprisingly resilient,
with considerable variation across times and across countries in the strength of these
policies, and there are also important exceptions, including some deficiencies and
retreats.
The paper will present an analysis of multicultural policies in Italy, in light of the
peculiarities of the country, in particular with reference to the shift from being a country
of emigration to a country of immigration, and back.
Kim, Tae-sik (Masaryk University, Czech Republic)
Misrepresented Multiculturalism in Korea: A Semiotic Analysis of the Multicultural
Museum and Multicultural Street
In Korea, state-led multiculturalism has been merely a political strategy aiming to
increase national competitiveness rather than an inclusive identity politics protecting
different cultures and migrated populations. Grounded in a long tradition of state-led
developmentalism that has promoted a series of “national discourses,” such as
discourses about modernization, industrialization, and globalization, the word damunhwa
(“multiculture” or “multicultural”) has become a dominant discourse mainly because the
government has actively promoted it with various policies. However, both the
government and civil society have applied the word to a wide range of public affairs
without a systematic definition, giving it normative power. This unspecified way of using
the word often makes it possible to simply connote people who are not Korean, such as
damunhwa gasu (meaning “multicultural singer,” referring to singers who migrated to
Korea). Critical voices argue that this usage discriminates against minorities and
stigmatizes migrants. One the other hand, the word is also used to signify the increased
global presence of Korea by displaying a social atmosphere embracing different
cultures. In this way, the word is perceived as an essential property of cultural capital in
a globalized world. In order to present these socially constructed meanings of
damunhwa, this semiotic study examines two spaces coined with the word: Damunhwa
Geori (Multicultural Street) in Ansan and Damunhwa Bakmulgwan (the Multicultural
Museum) in Seoul. Since the two spaces officially use the word, their spatial
characteristics and purposes seem to reflect how the meaning of damunhwa is
constructed and interpreted in daily lives. Multicultural Street is located in one of the
areas most densely populated by migrant workers, which is well known to Korean
citizens as a district populated by undocumented migrant workers. On the other hand,
the Multicultural Museum mainly displays artefacts from different cultures and educates
young students about the importance of a wide cultural understanding in a competitive
globalized world. Unlike the recent discourse over the crisis of multiculturalism in the
Western world, “multiculturalism with Korean characteristics” is paradoxically safe as a
result of unspecified usage.
Leppik, Marianne (University of Tartu, Estonia)
The role of media in the recent immigrant’s lives: supporter of transnational
identities or accelerator of acculturation?
Contemprary migration has problemitized multiculturalism as a political solution for both,
receiving societies and migrants themselves. As media enables to keep in touch with the
motherland, it also feeds multiculturalism. At the same time, media is important when
creating transnational identities and producing motives of overall migration. Estonia is an
interesting example of country where former Soviet time immigrants have developed
their own native-tongue media system where newcomers may easily enter. Therefore
Estonian example can be used to find out if the oppurtunity to consume the native
language media supports faster adaption via idenity formation and common
communication network with people similar language and ethnic background and
through idenity formation. There is another question whether recent immigrants try do
develop relations with titular group (Estonianas) or they develop transnational identities
and adjust media consumption habits accordingly. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to
examine how new-wave immigrants with different migration background are adapting in
Estonia and which is the role of media and knowledge of local language in this process.
Although relatively many studies focus on ethnic segregation or explore how media
consumpiton is related to immigrants in-migration and subsequent acculturation, the
current paper adds new perspective by involving migration motive and so the
geographical aspect. In order to reach the goal, the focus group interviews were carried
out, also the media diaries of immigrants were analyzed. The aim is to show how the
practices and customs of old and new home country are bounded and which is the role
of media in this. The main question is, does media consumption rather supports the
formation of transnational identities or acculturation either into the local Russian
community or mainstream titular community?
Leurs, Koen (London School of Economics)
Digital throwntogetherness
In this paper, grounded experiences of co-presence of we-ness and other-ness in digital
platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube will be reconsidered using Doreen
Massey’s notion of the “throwntogetherness” (Massey, 2005, p. 11).
Throwntogetherness refers to contemporaneous intersecting ethnic, religious and class
multiplicities, among others, observable in contemporary global cities. The
throwtogetherness of urban space, according to Massey is constituted by the
“contemporaneous existence of a plurality of trajectories”, sameness and otherness are
both present in a “simultaneity of stories-so-far” (2005, p 11.). The notion of
throwntogetherness, I propose, can be productive to give an account of general online
experience. Contemporary online/offline urban multiculture juxtaposes entangled,
internally heterogeneous axes of difference including gender, age, ethnicity, class,
religion and urbanity. The question arises how users make do with a situation of
throwntogetherness that can be said to characterize digital culture. Thus far, the ways in
which diverse identities digitally encounter, contest, appropriate and negotiate one
another remain understudied. Singular categories such as race or gender are often
isolated, or considered as unitary, additive variables. Based on an ongoing qualitative
study of digital identification among young Londoners (12-18 years), titled Urban Politics
of London Youth Analyzed Digitally, I will address this cross disciplinary lacuna that
includes media and communication studies, as well as gender and postcolonial studies
of technologies. It is urgent to achieve greater insights into whether intersecting identities
performed across digital spaces corroborate growing pan-European sentiments of failed
multiculturalism and ethnic segregation, or whether they showcase conviviality, crosscultural exchange and cultural hybridization.
Mabel, Ann Sanyu (Hamburg University)
African women's use of media for cultural identity
The scholarship on media's role in migrants' lives gains particular relevance with the
intense public debates on the failure of multiculturalism which has been identified as a
source of societal disintegration and the feminisation of migration (Georgiou 2012,
p792).There is a conservative discourse that identifies other cultures as a danger to the
survival of the home culture (Huysmans2000, pp757-758). This study investigated
African (Ghanaian) women migrants' use of media to maintain cultural identity in
Hamburg, Germany. The study focused on women because they are a minority often
marginalized within their own communities and the society (Georgiou 2012, p794). Yet
scholars argue that little is known about the role of media such as the internet, in the
maintenance, expression and advancement of identity especially when it comes to
empowerment in marginalized communities (Siddiquee&Kagan2006, p190). This
research is important in contributing towards the debate that exists regarding the
integration of migrants in Germany. Media is seen as a tool of successful integration and
minority media use from the country of origin supposedly leads migrants in to media
ghettos and harms integration (Trebbe (2007, p172). The study aimed to find out (a) how
Ghanaian women migrants use media for their cultural identity, (b) what media do they
use? (c) What are the other ways of maintaining cultural identity other than media use?
(d) What do they consider as an important aspect of their cultural identity?
The theories of transnationalism and Diaspora were useful in conceptualizing migrants
use of media to draw upon complex web of social relations to create fluid and multiple
identities grounded in both origin and host societies (Schiller et.al.1992, p11). Uses and
gratifications theory was used as an approach to study the gratifications that attract and
hold audiences to the kinds of media and the types of content that satisfy their social and
psychological needs (Ruggeiro 2000, pp4, 18). Gendered geographies of power were
used to conceptualize the study of gendered identities and relations in migration (Mahler
and Pessar 2000, p42)? Media use as a social action approach is relevant in studying
audiences such as diaspora, where by media use is a purposed action aimed at
reinforcing ideologies, and beliefs in identity construction (Rees and Eijck 2003, pp465466).
Seven narrative interviews and observation were used in data collection. As the
interviewees recounted their life stories, the researcher was able to grasp how the past
and present are intertwined, how the person was and comes to be and how they make
sense of their relationship with others and the world (Lawler2002, pp 249-250).
The findings of this study illustrate the importance of the internet in maintaining ties to
both the homeland and the host country, as a tool primarily used for communication,
information and entertainment. The results study indicate that the internet as a new
media is opens up new ways of experiencing migration (see Adoni 2002 & Hepp 2005).
This invites new inquiries investigating the opportunities provided by new media for
migrant women in voicing their interests (Sanyu 2012,p99).
Malik, Sarita (Brunel University)
“Creative Diversity”: UK Public Service Broadcasting After Multiculturalism
This talk puts together history and analysis to consider the relationship between race
and UK public service broadcasting. Building on earlier work that recognizes a
paradigmatic shift from multiculturalism to cultural diversity, the talk identifies a third
phase, “creative diversity.” Creative diversity provides a further incremental
depoliticization of race in public service broadcasting contexts. Here, ideas of quality and
creativity are foregrounded over (structural) questions of (in)equality. Malik situates the
rise of creative diversity alongside parallel developments in the “crisis of
multiculturalism,” UK equality legislative frameworks, and creative industries policy. It is
argued that creative diversity shifts the paradigm of the multicultural problem (in public
service broadcasting), enables the “marketization” of television and multiculture, and
ultimately continues to safeguard the interests of public service broadcasting.
Manrique, Linnete (Goldsmiths, University of London)
Multiculturalism in Neoliberal Mexico
This paper draws on Charles R. Hale’s concept of “neoliberal multiculturalism”5 to
examine the paradoxical tension between the official rhetoric of multiculturalism that
celebrates the many indigenous groups present in Mexico, as exemplified in Article 4 of
5
Hale, C. R. (2005). Neoliberal multiculturalism: The remaking of cultural rights and
racial dominance in Central America. PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review,
28, p.10-28.
the Constitution, and the continued economic marginalization and discriminatory social
practices against said groups. Neoliberal multiculturalism stands in opposition to the
assimilationist policies of the past that sought to homogenize the nation in formation. It
promotes cultural difference and rights but only to the extent that these are congenial
with the neoliberal ethos of free-market, individualism, privatization and deregulation,
and “‘low intensity’ democratic reforms.”6 Neoliberal multiculturalism engenders the
image of the “authorized” or “permitted” Indian (el indio permitido) that is both “authentic”
and modern. This in turn gives rise to the “Other,” the unauthorized Indian, who goes too
far in making (cultural/economic) demands and fails to conform to the neoliberal project.
The paper is concerned with issues of representation and particularly focuses on how
the image of the “indio/a permitido/a” is promoted on the successful soap opera
(telenovela) María Isabel, released only three years after the indigenous rebellion
emerged in Chiapas in 1994 and one year after the EZLN (Zapatista Army of National
Liberation) signed the San Andrés agreements in conjunction with the Mexican
government in 1996.
Marino, Sara (University of Westminster)
Brain drain and brain circulation: How digital media participate in the
construction of Italian self-esteem abroad.
A pressing and frequently-debated issue in Italy is that of ‘brain drain’, understood as the
country’s loss of highly-skilled human capital together with a simultaneous lack of ‘brain
circulation’, that is, the flow of talent to and from Italy and the important benefits which
that would entail for the country. The present article will propose an insight of the
mentioned debate through a digital media perspective and by giving voice to Italian
immigrants who decide to move to London for study and work reasons. More
specifically, the methodology will combine in-depth interviews and participant
observation of the main channels through which Italians in London keep themselves
informed about Italy: blogs, online communities, websites, recruiting agencies and b2b
meetings between young Italian entrepreneurs based in London. The main hypothesis is
that trough their media habits and the use of digital media Italians maintain an open
conversation with Italy while, at the same time, Italian Government adopts the same
media in order to define a more effective operation of ‘bringing back the talent’. Related
topics the present article addresses will involve the relationship between participation
and self-esteem. How does this inter-communication affects Italian’s self-esteem
abroad? To what extent digital media actively contribute in brain circulation and return
policies? The available data are the results of a three year doctoral project (2010-2013),
which aimed at establishing a network to coordinate the diaspora of Italian professionals
abroad as well as to “pull together” more effectively and work with Italian institutions by
opening up structured and digitally based channels.
Okpokiri, Cynthia (University of Sussex)
Multiculturalism
If we are agreed that sending people who may have lived in Britain most of their lives
‘home’ is not a practical idea, we must find an alternative to ensure that these migrants
Amado, M. (2012). The “new mestiza,” the old mestizos: Contrasting discourses on
mestizaje. Sociological Inquiry, 82(3), p.446-459.
6
and the British host society live in harmony. Questions about multiculturalism have
always been present in social discourses over the years. These questions have become
more prevalent in public discourses following a recent comment by Prime Minister David
Cameron that suggests that migrants pose a threat to constructing a multicultural society
because they contribute to the erosion of British cultural values. There has been a
tightening of immigration laws in addition to recommendations that migrants have to
accept and practice British cultural norms or go back home.
This qualitative research paper explores the various discourses on multiculturalism using
a critical realist perspective to analyse data from first-generation Nigerian immigrant
parents (FNIP) domiciled in Britain. The data to be presented draws on Honneth’s (1992)
recognition theory to argue that migrants experience a sense of acute cultural shock in
multiple ways; that their values and identities are excluded in the application of British
policies and practices because migrants’ social cultural norms are not essentially
accounted for in legal and regulatory frameworks, as well as everyday normative
practices in Britain. The data suggests that migrants feel excluded and their ways of life
negated. The paper argues that if British society decides that people who have legal
rights to live in Britain and who may have spent most of their lives in Britain must eat,
dress and pray like the traditional British or ‘go back home’, then theirs is not much
different from the divisive racial policies/philosophies of Robert Mugabe that is shunned
by much of the world.
Oluwafunmilayo ‘Bode, Alakija (University of Leicester)
Home, Identity and Media Practices among First and Second Generation Members
of Nigerian Diaspora in Peckham
‘Home’ to the diaspora is conceived in terms of multiple locations straddling both the
homeland and the host land, while identity is considered fluid and always in process.
Although the ‘homeland’ is a contested terrain whereby a distinction is made between a
desire for the homeland and a homing desire by Brah; it is none the less a key feature in
the diasporic consciousness. Arguments have therefore focussed on whether the
homeland is an authoritative point of reference or a myth in the imagination of the
diaspora. Given these debates, this study examines the understanding of home, identity
and media practices of first and second generation members of the Nigerian diaspora in
Peckham. Drawing on Hall, the thesis argues that the context of ‘becoming’ is different
given the distinctiveness of the historical experiences of each diaspora and contends
that irrespective of the position of the fluidity that marks the postmodern migrant, the
homeland is still an authoritative point of reference that is subliminally glued to the
diasporic consciousness and which has greatly influenced the second generation claims
to the parental homeland as a heritage they are proud of. Accordingly, the daily lived
experiences of the diaspora revealed banal nationalism through an everyday
representation of the homeland in the symbolic, material, social, cultural as well as
religious practices in the diaspora. Drawing on 7 months anthropological as well as
media ethnographic participant observation in various domestic and informal social and
cultural events in Peckham coupled with semi structured interviews of 67 participants
from the second and first generation members of Nigerian diaspora who use Peckham
as diasporic space in various capacities: as residents, commerce, social cultural,
religious activities. The study finds that while many of the first generation members of
the diaspora tend to use British media in their daily media reception, their daily practices
still tend towards the homeland. While the second generation have adopted religion as
social capital that connects them to the parent’s homeland which has a strong influence
on their diasporic identity.
Poole, Elizabeth (Keele University)
Narratives of Parallel Media and Segregated Communities: Muslims in the UK
Media Context
In post 9/11 Britain, the perceived failures of minority communities to integrate have led
to political and media narratives and activities intent on a cohesion agenda. As the
political uncertainties caused by globalisation and the movement of people continued,
alongside technological transformations that have seen an abundance of new media
products appear, assumptions have been made about how parallel media may
contribute to the further segregation of UK’s minorities (predominantly aimed at Britain’s
Muslims). This paper responds to dominant narratives regarding the failure of
multiculturalism by interrogating data from the Muslims in the European Mediascape
project which assessed the impact of the emergence of ’Muslim media’ on community
relations. For many of these producers their media contributes positively to intercultural
relations by providing an outlet for Muslim voices and a source of varied opinion for
mainstream media. However, the findings show not only the struggle for visibility for this
type of media but the lack of recognition amongst its target audience. The reasons for
this will be examined along with a critique of the assumed relationship between use of
mainstream media and integration. The paper also provides a reflection on constructions
of national identity and critically analyses how its own conceptual approach and
methodologies draw participants into dominant narratives which compels them to
emphasise their ‘belonging’.
Raboin, Thibaut (University College London)
A queer, multicultural East End: Tolerance, queer optimism and multiculturalism
in the East London Gay Pride
Queerness has been increasingly discussed, defined and narrativised in public arenas in
relation to multiculturalism; this has given rise to a rising number of controversies around
the attachment of certain strands of LGBTI politics to nationalist projects. In this context,
tolerance has emerged as a central concept in the representation of multiple ideals of
cosmopolitanism: it has become simultaneously the condition for a queer happy future in
Britain, and for an anti-racist LGBTI political agenda. (Brown, 2006)
The aim of this paper is to look at the relationship between queerness and
multiculturalism through analysis of the failed organisation of an East London Gay Pride
(ELGP) in 2011. The ELGP was a response to putatively Islamic homophobic leaflets
stuck up in East London; however, concerns over the real authors of these leaflets
(some local LGBTI groups claimed it was the English Defence League) and over the
past affiliation of the Pride organisers to the EDL meant that the ELGP was eventually
cancelled.
Using the tools of discourse analysis, this paper will look at the question of the future,
both queer and multicultural, in the media narratives surrounding this event. Firstly it will
look at the role that queer optimism plays in the configuration of the controversy;
optimism being understood here as an orientation towards the promise of happiness
offered by liberalism for queers. (Ahmed, 2006, 2010; Eng, 2010) In particular, the paper
will question the way the “community” of East London turns this promise into a more
explicit political project of education and tolerance. Secondly, the paper will see how the
practice of sexual tolerance places liberal (queer) subjects and non-liberal (racialised)
subjects more or less close to the nation. Within sexual modernity, tolerance thus takes
a new significance in media narratives about multiculturalism, reinforcing new founding
myth of openness for the nation. (Nagel, 2003; Stychin, 1997
Ratajczak, Magdalena (University of Wroclaw, Poland)
Diaspora Diplomacy: Polish Diaspora as a Tool of Public Diplomacy
The paper discusses the principles of the activity of Polish government in the area of
diaspora diplomacy. The diaspora is an element of public diplomacy (mainly cultural
diplomacy). I would like to pay attention on the function of the diaspora as a tool of public
diplomacy. The diaspora can be used to the promote the positive image of the country
(Poland as transcultural European country) as well as its culture in the host state. Public
diplomacy requires partners both at home and in target countries. These include nongovernmental organizations, the media, cultural institutions and the business community
and also diaspora organisations. The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs decided to use
Polish diaspora to popularization of the rich and multicultural heritage of Poland and
promotion of knowledge about our history, culture. According M.Leonard, there are also
important economic benefits to be had by focusing on the diaspora as a channel of
public diplomacy: tourism, trade, investment, skills.
Poland is one of the European countries with the quite low percentage of ethnic and
national minorities. According to the Census of Population from 2011 acknowledged
minorities make up 3.8 per cent of the Polish population. But Polish migrants formed the
largest immigrant group in the EU countries, mostly in Great Britain, Ireland and
Scandinavian countries.
Sapag M., Pablo (Madrid Complutense University)
Building an identity. Chilean Arab diaspora and the digital media
Globalization encourages world minorities to search for or reinforce their specific
identities. As part of Arab diaspora (Rodinson), Chilean Arabs are a case of study. Half a
million Arab descendants live in Chile, two thirds members of the largest Palestinian
community outside the Middle East. Chilean Arabs constitute the second largest minority
after Mapuche, an indigenous people of a country just now acknowledging its diversity, a
process already well advanced in other Latin American countries (Bolivia. eg.).
This new Chilean reality demands a clear identity definition of the different groups that
form its society. For Chilean Arabs that process is also encouraged by external factors,
such as the situation in the Middle East, international terrorism linked to Islamist groups
and the wide confusion of Arab and Islam in media reports and political speeches. The
latter is critical for a community in which more than 90% of its members are Christians.
While first immigrants focused on improving their economy and tried to adapt to the host
society, third generations of now Chilean Arabs analyse who they are, where did they
come from and where do they move as a specific group. This process has an ally in new
digital media. They already have more communication channels than older generations
of Arabs in Chile who developed newspapers, magazines and radio programs.
From historic and comparative perspectives this paper explores how digital media
contributes to shape an identity long ago influenced by the partition of Palestine,
migration itself and the clash with the reception society. Nowadays Chilean Arabs
identity is being transformed by different realities in the Middle East, and the way Chile
struggles with its diversity.
This article is based on research at the Internet, the newspaper room of the Chilean
National Library and the archives of the Centre for Arabic Studies of Chile University. A
comparative and qualitative discussion of Arab Chilean old and digital media contents
will lead to conclusions about the building process of an identity and the possible
advantages of new media in that task.
Skey, Michael (University of East Anglia)
‘There are times when I feel like a bit of an alien’: How liminality, life-cycle and
loss pattern the experiences of Australian middling migrants in London
This paper provides a different perspective on many of the debates around
multiculturalism in Britain by focusing on a group of semi-permanent migrants whose
ancestry, cultural background and phenotype has made them largely invisible to media,
policy makers and academics. While there are around 200,000 Australians living in the
UK, the vast majority in London, relatively little is known about their experience of
moving and living abroad. The first part of the paper explores their motivations for travel,
reflections on everyday life in Britain and attitudes towards different social groups. Of
particular interest, here, is the degree to which London is viewed as a liminal space by a
group whose privileged status offers opportunities to exploit economic, social and
cultural capital in a range of social settings, local, national and regional. At the same
time, the life-cycle has a profound impact on how different places are viewed as more or
less attractive and/or homely. It also suggested that the trans-national field may be a
productive concept with which to analyse these groups’ experiences and orientations. In
the second part, I draw on some of Madianou and Miller’s (2011) arguments around
‘polymedia’, though rejecting the utility of the term itself, to interrogate the manner in
which these groups use a range of media technologies and platforms to manage their
engagements with localised social networks, cosmopolitan and national, as well as
family, friends and national debates on the other side of the world. In conclusion, it is
argued that a range of media practices both underpin and ameliorate different aspects of
these trans-national lives.
Smets, Kevin (University of Antwerp, Belgium)
Polarized by pop culture? Kurdish and Turkish diaspora youngsters in London,
ethnic polarization, and the media
The ethnic polarization among diaspora communities is a frequently overlooked aspect n
discussions and policies regarding multiculturalism. They are often regarded as socially
homogeneous groups. This paper invites scholars to go beyond this static notion by
focusing on how diasporic youngsters negotiate and differentiate various ethnic
belongings. More particularly, it asks how these youngsters experience everyday ethnic
polarization and how their media use plays a role in it. These matters are explored by
discussing the specific case study of youngsters of Kurdish and Turkish origin in London.
The conflict between the Turkish state and Kurdish insurgents is a long-standing issue in
Middle Eastern politics.
It is a highly transnational issue, affecting communities in the Middle East as well as in
the diaspora. Kurds inhabit areas mainly overlapping Turkey, Syria, Iran and Iraq, but
large groups have also migrated westwards to big cities and to Western Europe. The
conflict has resulted in thousands of civil and military victims as well as deep ethnic
tensions, both in Turkey and within diaspora communities.
So far most studies have focused on diasporic belonging and on long-distance
nationalism, overlooking ethnic polarizations within the everyday lives of diasporic
populations. This paper approaches ethnic polarizations among diaspora groups through
mediated popular culture, since this is an essential part of youngsters’ daily lives.
Moreover, a number of studies have highlighted the mediatized nature of the Kurdish
conflict as well as the stereotypical and negative representations of Kurdish minorities in
mainstream Turkish popular culture (which may feed polarization).
The discussion is based on a qualitative study among youngsters with Kurdish and
Turkish roots in the London area, including 20 in-depth interviews, 2 group discussions
and participant observations. An effort is made to relate the findings to on-going debates
about multiculturalism and to effective policies to deal with these polarizations.
Wang, Xiao and Prause, Maria (Utrecht University, the Netherlands)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The relocation of Chinese musical traditions in
Western form.
In cultural imperialism theory, Tan Dun (谭盾), the OSCAR award winning Chinese
composer, represent the term “contra-flow” or “counterpoint” within the entire cultural
system. He is one of the earlier musicians who studied abroad after the Cultural
Revolution. His music sufficiently associates Chinese and Western music instruments
and techniques, and bridges the Western classical and Eastern local tradition music
form. One of his compositions, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (卧虎藏龙) , is
intersected by the contrast and assimilation of various tones, harmonies and rhythms.
This well-known cinematic soundtrack opens up another channel towards a hybridized
music field of different traditional genres.
This paper will start with an analysis of theoretical framework: modernity, in order to
discuss co-existence of cultural imperialism and globalization as critical phenomena of
multi-modernity formulates a turn in global culture: the multiculturalism. By a closed-up
look at one of significant causes to such phenomena, diaspora culture contributes to
many innovations at different cultural aspects. To what extend, the names shown on the
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon soundtrack album, the composer Tan Dun, the cellist
Yoyo Ma (马友友) and the singer Coco Lee (李玟), are those who typically represent the
first and second Chinese immigrant generations in US, and all have been showered by
both Western and Eastern cultures. This bi-cultural identity eventually determines their
interpretation of the soundtrack in this film. Throughout the whole paper, it mainly
focuses on how Chinese traditional music is relocated within Western classic music. For
instance, it is necessary to explore the combination of cello and different solo of Chinese
instrumentation bamboo flutes (竹笛) and the stringed Erhu (二胡), Western and
Chinese Orchestra, and also a comparison between English and Chinese lyrics of the
theme song. It also examines how multicultural identities are conducted in the
soundtrack and the growth of representation of Chineseness on the current global stage.
Williamson, Milly (Brunel University) and Khiabany, Gholam (Goldsmiths)
Race and Free Speech: “Ours” and “Theirs”
The perennial issues of free speech, the freedom of expression, religion and race have
arisen again with the controversy surrounding the anti-Islamic You Tube video ‘The
Innocence of Muslims’, followed by offensive cartoons of the Prophet Muhammed in the
French satirical newspaper, ‘Charlie Hebdo’. This paper examines the way the
multiculturalism has been constructed in the mainstream British news media around two
narratives: the principal of the freedom of the press, and the intolerance of Muslims; the
twinning of these narratives reproduces and reinforces the racist cultural binary which
sets the ‘progressive’ West against ‘backward’ Islam.
Rather than investigating the deliberately provocative nature of both sets of images, or
asking questions about racism, the response in the media and in the world of politics has
been to lay claim to the values of the freedom of expression (and paint it in illusory
western colours) alongside various attempts to explain or understand the ‘intolerance’ of
Islam. What is written out of these narratives are the limits to tolerance in the West, and
indeed the limits to free expression in the Anglo-European media. This paper compares
this media framing of offense to that of the round condemnation of the recent publication
of topless pictures of Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge. It examines how and
why two revered institutions are treated quite differently; and in particular why offending
one is presented as ‘our’ unalienable right, while offending the other is framed as a
disrespectful invasion of privacy. What becomes of freedom when it is mixed with
religion and race? If freedom of speech is a universal value, what do these two
examples tell us about its application across spaces and ethnicities?