New Complexities of Cohension in Britatin: Super-diversity, Transnationalism and Civil-Integration

By Steven Vertovec

As the Commission on Integration and Cohesion (CIC) observes, British society is becoming evermore diverse. Although largely conditioned by immigration dynamics, it is short-sighted to view this diversity solely or predominantly in terms of ethnicity or country of origin. There are many other variables interacting to affect integration and cohesion. Through a review of social scientific research and theory, this commissioned thinkpiece explores additional dimensions of immigration-related diversity and sociocultural complexity existing in the UK today. The paper initially recapitulates some of the data and argument of a forthcoming academic publication concerning the emergence of a condition of ‘super-diversity' in Britain (Vertovec 2007). It goes further to discuss the linkages between processes and practices of transnationalism and integration, as well as several issues surrounding everyday social relations and practices of civility in ‘super-diverse' contexts.

This piece of work was commissioned by the Commission on Integration and Cohesion, a fixed-term advisory body set up by the Communities Secretary in September 2006. It is being published alongside the Commission's final report as a piece of independent thinking.

To download the report click here.

 

If you do not have Adobe® Acrobat® Reader, which is required to read this document, you can download it free from the Adobe Website