Including the Excluded? Changing the Understandings of Ethnicity in Contemporary English Planning

Abstract

The inclusion of ethnic and racial groups through participation is a key concern for planners, but far too little attention has been given to the way that groups become identified. Ethnic identity is presumed to be self-evident. Drawing on the political theory of Young and Gilroy the paper questions the basis for ethnic identity as a group membership. These theorists suggest that through attention to relationships between ethnic groups we can open up space to challenge existing ethnic power relations. The paper draws upon qualitative research in two English local authorities to explore how long-standing conceptualisations of ethnicity act to diminish the positive contribution that attention to difference can have. The findings suggest that planners make positive efforts to understand ethnic difference and engage with community groups. However, the identification of groups is not a neutral or objective process, but instead is power-ridden. This article argues that the progressive edge of planning and efforts of planners are undermined if we do not interrogate the basis for the understanding of ethnic difference.

Keywords:

• Ethnicity
• ethnic minorities
• mosque
• local development plan
• participation

Acknowledgements

This paper was written in various cities and thanks are due to the University of Michigan for hosting a visiting scholarship in 2010. Thanks to Kiera Chapman in particular, Amanda LeDuke, Nicola Headlam Stephen Hincks, and Kevin Ward for their comments and encouragement without which this paper would not have been completed. Thanks also to the editor and the anonymous referees for their challenging and insightful remarks.

Notes

1. http://thinkexist.com/quotation/sitting_at_the_table_doesnt_make_you_a_diner/294629.html (accessed 26 September 2010).

2. The Indices of Multiple Deprivation measure several areas of deprivation to calculate a score. Whilst the 2007 and 2010 are directly comparable, according to CLG the indicators vary and the number of local authority districts has changed.

3. Non-white populations are referred to as ethnic minority, minority ethnic, black and minority ethnic (BME) and black and Asian minority ethnic (BAME) in policy.