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Abstract
Detailed qualitative data are used to explore the processes perpetuating labour market disadvantage among young UK-Bangladeshi men living in central London. Strong forces of inclusion within the Bangladeshi community are found to interact with forces of exclusion from ‘mainstream’ society to constrain aspirations and limit opportunities. Though diverse forms of young Bangladeshi masculinity are found, a common pattern is heavy dependency on intra-ethnic networks. Negative experiences of and isolation from ‘mainstream’ society further reinforce reliance on ‘our own people’. However, acute ambivalence towards belonging to a dense Bangladeshi community exists, exemplified in the widespread denigration of the restaurant trade. Many respondents express the desire to ‘break out’ and access new experiences. The findings support current policy emphasis on ‘connecting people to work’ but highlight the more fundamental need to connect people across ethnic boundaries. The paper urges researchers to ‘unpack’ ethnicity – to consider carefully what ethnic identity implies in terms of access to resources and opportunities for different individuals in different contexts – in order better to understand the diversity of labour market outcomes and the persistence of disadvantage.
Acknowledgements
This work was completed while Sarah Salway was a Nuffield Foundation Social Science New Career Development Fellow at the Centre for Population Studies, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. The support of her senior partner, Emily Grundy, is gratefully acknowledged. Tara Khanom, Arif Billah, Rowshan Hannan and Rafeya Chowdhury gave assistance in fieldwork and translation. Bedford House, Kings Cross Brunswick Neighbourhood Association, Bromley-by-Bow Health Living Centre, Social Action for Health and the Surma Centre also gave important guidance and support. I also thank all the respondents for so generously giving their time and sharing their experiences.
Notes
1. Space prohibits a lengthy discussion of the varied ways in which the concepts ‘social capital’ and ‘acculturation’ have been defined and operationalized. However, as our arguments below illustrate, we consider formulations that identify social networks/resources (within and across ethnic/social group boundaries) as properties of individuals and households to be most useful.
2. The term ‘Bengali’ was used by some UK-educated respondents. While some clearly articulated a difference between ‘Bangladeshi’ and ‘Bengali’, others had appropriated the term ‘Bengali’ in a fairly unconscious manner. Some Bangladesh-educated respondents actively rejected the term ‘Bengali’ since to them it identifies a non-Sylheti Bangladeshi. Others identified ‘Bengali’ purely as the language spoken and ‘Bangladeshi’ as the appropriate term for people with family origins in Bangladesh.
3. Alexander (Citation2000) documents similar findings in South London.
4. ‘Hashpot’ was a derogatory local term used to describe young men who retained ‘traditional’ Bangladeshi characteristics, often those who had recently arrived in the country.
5. Mac an Ghaill and Haywood (2005) report similar findings in Newcastle.
6. Furthermore the leadership of Bengali revisionist Islamic organizations has been found to be dominated by well-qualified professionals who can act as role models for disaffected working-class men (Glynn Citation2002).
7. Respondents commonly call these Bangladeshi-owned and run restaurants ‘Indian’. Attitudes to restaurant ownership were more favourable. However, in reality individuals had often moved between owner and worker over time since many restaurant ventures were unsuccessful.
8. While this can have an ethnic dimension, rivalry between Bengali ‘gangs’ is a commonly reported problem in our fieldwork areas that also restricts opportunities.
9. In areas of dense Bangladeshi concentration, the term ‘Asian’ is often used as a synonym for ‘Bangladeshi’. However, some respondents had at times appealed to a broader ‘Asian’ identity in seeking employment with Indians or Pakistanis where they felt they would ‘feel easy’ and be considered suitable employees.
10. The 2001 census revealed that 23 per cent of all UK Bangladeshis lived in Tower Hamlets (Daniel Dorling, pers. comm.). It is also worth noting that we interviewed several individuals who had chosen to move out of the study areas but retained links through employment and voluntary work. Furthermore, Crozier's (Citation2000) and Mac an Ghaill and Haywood's (Citation2005) work in parts of the country with much lower concentrations of Bangladeshis suggests similar levels of exclusion from ‘mainstream’ social networks.
