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Mapping Integration
Few topics inspire more heat and less light than integration. A
debate on the topic can cover all manner of subjects including
demographic change, social relationships across ethnic
boundaries, the interaction between race and social class, and
questions of national identity and cultural adherence. As a
consequence, integration has the distinction of being a public
policy question which can become less intelligible the more it
is aired. But these questions aren’t mere debating points: they
have huge potential societal impact.
As this collection reveals, there is a great deal of data out
there on the British integration story, and it shows a varied
picture. On the one hand there is a story of declining
discrimination, an increase in mixed race children, upwardly
mobile minorities and unselfconsciously mixed suburbs. But
elsewhere there is also a story of parallel lives and what Robert
Putnam has called ‘hunkering down’. The real concern about
segregation is two-fold. First, is it likely to undermine social
peace and solidarity? And second, will it deprive any group
of opportunity, or reduce their life chances?
Our contributors offer some suggestions. And while it’s
too early to draw too many conclusions, what they say
challenges us to look afresh at the question of ethnic diversity
and its impact on our wellbeing. For this reason, this
collection marks the launch of the Demos Mapping
Integration project, which will have the Integration Hub
website at its heart. This will, when completed, pull together
existing data held by government, academic and private
sector organisations to offer a user-friendly, authoritative and
politically neutral overview of our understanding of these
complex matters. In so doing, it hopes to close the gap
between the ordinary voter and policymakers on a vital but
sensitive subject.
debate on the topic can cover all manner of subjects including
demographic change, social relationships across ethnic
boundaries, the interaction between race and social class, and
questions of national identity and cultural adherence. As a
consequence, integration has the distinction of being a public
policy question which can become less intelligible the more it
is aired. But these questions aren’t mere debating points: they
have huge potential societal impact.
As this collection reveals, there is a great deal of data out
there on the British integration story, and it shows a varied
picture. On the one hand there is a story of declining
discrimination, an increase in mixed race children, upwardly
mobile minorities and unselfconsciously mixed suburbs. But
elsewhere there is also a story of parallel lives and what Robert
Putnam has called ‘hunkering down’. The real concern about
segregation is two-fold. First, is it likely to undermine social
peace and solidarity? And second, will it deprive any group
of opportunity, or reduce their life chances?
Our contributors offer some suggestions. And while it’s
too early to draw too many conclusions, what they say
challenges us to look afresh at the question of ethnic diversity
and its impact on our wellbeing. For this reason, this
collection marks the launch of the Demos Mapping
Integration project, which will have the Integration Hub
website at its heart. This will, when completed, pull together
existing data held by government, academic and private
sector organisations to offer a user-friendly, authoritative and
politically neutral overview of our understanding of these
complex matters. In so doing, it hopes to close the gap
between the ordinary voter and policymakers on a vital but
sensitive subject.
107 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2014
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