Diversity In The Postwar United Kingdom Essay

Diversity In The Post-war United Kingdom Essay, Research Paper

‘What have been the main forms of diversity to emerge in the post-war United Kingdom, and to what extent have they been sources of uncertainty.There have been many forms of diversity to emerge in the UK in the post war period. It is subjective which of these can be considered the main forms. Personal circumstances may colour somebody.s view of which forms of diversity are the most noticeable, have had the most profound effect or caused the most uncertainty. For example a person living in a community with a higher than average Asian population may cite Britain.s more multicultural society as being the biggest change in post-war Britain compared to somebody from the South West for example where the number of people belonging to ethnic minorities is relatively low. Many changes have taken place in Britain since the end of WWII and there is no objective answer as to whether any of the changes are to the detriment of society as a whole. Political ideology can often determine what changes are seen in a positive light e.g. the more opportunities open to single parents to return to work while bringing up young children may be seen as a positive form of diversity, particularly if you are a working parent but to read a conservative-leaning newspaper such as The Daily Mail or The Daily Telegraph one might consider this change is not a favourable one. I will therefore discuss the changes which I consider to be the most considerable and the how these can be viewed in terms of uncertainty.

Diversity does not automatically lead to uncertainty, in some instances it could be argued that more choice of categorization can help people make a firm commitment to one group, lifestyle etc… Rather than having to choose the category that is simply the least different or most similar from a limited set of criteria e.g. .I have a penis so I am male., there are now more detailed, complex categories providing a more highly specific answer to questions of a person.s gender e.g. a person with a penis could now consider themselves .Transgendered.. So, in some cases through an increased diversity of choices a person can achieve more certainty about who they are. Turner et al discussed the question of gender categorisation in 1987 in his Self-categorization Theory. He believes identity is shaped by self-categorization, that people review the social categories on offer to them, decide to which one they belong (by comparing to which category they had the most similarities and least differences) and that they then began to take on identities appropriate to that social category e.g. recognising that you are male leads you to believe that shaving your legs is not a typical activity for your gender group. It could be argued that with lots of categories and freedom to choose there is now no clear path to follow, which may lead to uncertainty as to who one is supposed to be.

Another major and visible new form of diversity in UK in the post .war period is Ethnic and Cultural diversity. Many factors have altered the ethnic make-up of Britain for example Immigration and Asylum Seekers from war torn countries such as Albania. Black people from British colonies were encouraged to come to Britain in the 1950.s to cover a labour shortage left by WWII, several generations have now been born from these original immigrants who are British with full British citizenship but with recent family history, roots, elsewhere in different countries with different cultures. This may cause uncertainty in terms of self-categorization, does saying one is British really incorporate all of a person.s cultural history, and confusion for people outside this group especially an older generation of British Whites to whom Black people were a rare and .exotic. people who were .foreign. to them when they were children. The British as a whole have to redefine themselves.

Although historically many people from various areas have come to settle in Britain through migration or, several centuries ago, through invasion, since WWII the numbers have increased and, perhaps, with our advanced communications network (regular, round the clock national news, televised House of Commons debates, regional media which can be accessed from anywhere via the Internet) we, as a society, are more conscious of the situation. The media, particularly the right wing, reactionary press, often highlights the negative issues surrounding such immigrations. Uncertainties such as increased competition for limited jobs, welfare budgets and social housing are pushed to the forefront of the public consciousness although it may be argued that such media are not balancing the negative by giving focus to the more positive effects of a more diverse ethnic population e.g. wider variety of cultures and through such close experience of different cultures the possibilities to stop demonising and fearing different cultures and cultural practises for example Notting Hill Carnival, or the presence of a wider choice of places of worship (although to strict Christians or white racists and fascist fractions this would be seen as a negative, de-stabilizing the Britain that they seek to restore therefore causing uncertainty to the future of Britain). It seems the UK is still in a fluid state with regards to multiculturalism, the journey from a white, mainly Christian nation to a pluralist, culturally diverse country w