Suburban drifts: mundane multiculturalism in outer London

Abstract

This article explores the ethnicization of London suburbs to challenge the growing public and political discourse of the ‘failure of multiculturalism’ mobilized by politicians in the UK and Europe, and even worse, the more pernicious rhetoric that blames multiculturalist policies for a whole raft of social ills including social exclusion, terrorism and urban riots. Through reviving the concept of multicultural drift deployed by Stuart Hall over a decade ago to frame the experiences of three generations of Asians in two London suburbs, we reveal the much more subtle and ordinary ways in which multicultural diversity is simply a fact of life in London's erstwhile predominantly white suburbs, a fact that makes a nonsense of David Cameron's (and others') assertions.

Keywords:

• multiculturalism
• suburbs
• London
• British Asians
• race and ethnicity

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sophie Watson

SOPHIE WATSON is Professor in Sociology in the Faculty of Social Sciences at the Open University.

Anamik Saha

ANAMIK SAHA is Lecturer in Communications in the Institute of Communications Studies, University of Leeds.