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Patriots of the Future? A Critical Examination of Community Cohesion Strategies in Contemporary Britain

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  • Derek McGhee

Abstract

This paper focuses on four inter-related areas of recent public policy in Britain associated with community cohesion, asylum and immigration, the Strength in Diversity consultation strategy and counter-terrorism. This paper comprises of a critical examination of the various reports, speeches and strategies associated with these areas of public policy. The central concern of the paper is to explore the relationship between these areas of public policy through illuminating the extent of the ‘policy tropes’ common to each, for example, (1) the problematisation of the weakness of ‘citizenship’ in contemporary Britain and the strategy for revitalizing it, common to all four policy areas; (2) the emphasis on ‘the material’ over ‘the cultural’ in the explanations of ‘weak integration’ in these policy areas; and (3) the ethnic and religious minority focus in all four areas. The relationship exposed between these policy tropes is then used in the paper to suggest that the focus on ethnic and minority communities (especially young Muslims) within this discursive formation, belies a barely repressed risk consciousness that informs the wider rhetoric of building community cohesion in twenty-first century Britain.

Suggested Citation

  • Derek McGhee, 2005. "Patriots of the Future? A Critical Examination of Community Cohesion Strategies in Contemporary Britain," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 10(3), pages 18-32, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:socres:v:10:y:2005:i:3:p:18-32
    DOI: 10.5153/sro.1114
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Les Back & Michael Keith & Azra Khan & Kalbir Shukra & John Solomos, 2002. "‘The Return of Assimilationism: Race, Multiculturalism and New Labour’," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 7(2), pages 96-105, May.
    2. Nick Stevenson, 2002. "Cosmopolitanism, Multiculturalism and Citizenship," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 7(1), pages 172-188, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Andrew Pilkington, 2008. "From Institutional Racism to Community Cohesion: The Changing Nature of Racial Discourse in Britain," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 13(3), pages 78-90, May.
    2. Nilufar Ahmed, 2008. "Language, Gender and Citizenship: Obstacles in the Path to Learning English for Bangladeshi Women in London's East End," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 13(5), pages 77-90, September.
    3. Alice Pettigrew, 2012. "Confronting the Limits of Antiracist and Multicultural Education: White Students’ Reflections on Identity and Difference in a Multiethnic Secondary School," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 17(3), pages 207-217, August.

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