Complex belongings: Racialization and migration in a small English city

Abstract

The article explores how long-term residents in a small city with rural links in the East of England related to new migrants at a time of changing patterns and increased volume of migration. Based on in-depth interviews and observations in 2005–6, the article shows dynamic, complex, and nuanced constructions of belonging and governmentalities of belonging. Long-term Peterborians felt proud that their city attracted migrants and became more multicultural. Many saw this as a normative aspect of being modern. Yet, the arrival of migrants also led to tensions and re-inscribed the racialization of Peterborough's ethnic minorities, articulated through the theme of neighbourliness. Through the figures of ‘uncaring migrant neighbours’ and ‘ruthless Pakistani landlords’, migrants and ethnic minority Peterborians were portrayed as refusing injunctions to care for the neighbourhood and the nation. Ethnic minority Peterborians were positioned ambivalently as hosts of and – at times – targets of racism by new migrants.

Keywords:

• Governmentality of belonging
• migration
• neighbourliness
• racialization
• rural
• urban

Acknowledgements

I would like to acknowledge the Joseph Rowntree Foundation's funding of the project on immigration and social cohesion in the UK, of which the Peterborough case study formed a part. Gaynor Atkins and Bob Bainbridge provided excellent research assistance. I am very grateful to Sarah Neal, Vron Ware, Christian Klesse, Jin Haritaworn, and the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments.

Notes

1. This study was part of a larger project on migration and social cohesion in the UK, funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

2. The article focuses on long-term Peterborians but also draws on migrants’ perspectives to provide context.

3. Given Peterborough's expansion as a New Town, it is interesting to note that most Peterborians had experiences of internal migration. Here, long-term Peterborians are defined as those who have lived in the city for ten years or more.

4. Presentation at New Link conference, November 2005.

5. Presentation at New Link conference, November 2005.

6. All interviews have been anonymized; these are pseudonyms.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Umut Erel

UMUT EREL is Research Councils UK Academic Fellow at the Centre for Citizenship, Identities and Governance and the Department of Sociology, Open University.