Is Britain a divided society?

Using public money to fund projects by religious and ethnic minority groups is fuelling separation in Britain according to Professor Ted Cantle who is to speak about his views at Teesside University.

Professor Cantle has called for an end to state funding for religious groups and ethnic communities arguing the results are groups leading parallel lives, instead there should be a move to ‘interculturalism’.

An important strand of research at Teesside University is in modern political history and far right movements – led by Professor Nigel Copsey and Dr Matthew Feldman from the Institute of Design, Culture and the Arts.

In a public lecture on 3 December, Professor Cantle, chair of the Community Cohesion Institute and author of the report into the summer race riots in Bradford, Oldham and Burnley in 2001, will discuss how Britain has become a divided society with ‘state sponsored segregation’.

'We have – as a result of this state intervention -hardened and homogenised group identities and created the notion that they are fixed and ascribed, rather than chosen and developmental,' said Professor Cantle.

'Ironically, many of these identities now appear more immutable, than the now discredited racial boundaries that they have come to replace.'

Professor Nigel Copsey, Director of Teesside’s Institute of Design, Culture and the Arts, said: 'This is an excellent opportunity for people to understand more about the diverse culture we now live in. Many people who feel concerned about multicultural society are particularly fearful of Islam and Muslim communities, are concerned about the loss of traditional identities, and are pessimistic about their own futures. All of these are worries that the far right can capitalise on and this remains a very real concern.

'There is a traditional view that the far right need not be taken seriously in this country,’ explains Professor Copsey. But research has demonstrated that a significant proportion of the electorate is sympathetic to far-right views.'

Dr Matthew Feldman said: 'Professor Cantle’s lecture provides an excellent opportunity for the community in Middlesbrough, no less than in Britain more widely, to reflect upon the nature of demographic and cultural change. Have we got things right in building a more inclusive society? Has multiculturalism had its day? These seem to me important questions – not just in terms of Teesside’s leading research on the rise of the far right in contemporary Britain.

'I believe that Professor Cantle is presenting a timely opportunity for all citizens to think proactively about contributing to and reappraising the interconnectivity of cultures in the UK today.'

The lecture on December 3 at Teesside University starts at 6.00pm (refreshments served at 5.30pm) in the Centuria Building, Victoria Road, Middlesbrough.

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