Department hold joint conference with Demos
Diversity and the White Working Class: white flight, anti-immigration politics and integration
Diversity and the White Working Class: white flight, anti-immigration politics and integration
The Department of Politics and the Centre for the Study of British Politics and Public Life, in collaboration with the think-tank Demos, held a successful roundtable conference on Wednesday 3 April 2013.
Frank Field , Labour MP for Birkenhead and Gavin Barwell, Tory MP for Croydon Central, spoke in the last session. The conference was also covered in the Independent.
In the UK, there has been a resurgence of academic interest and policy initiatives focusing on the ‘white working class’. The term has become intertwined with debates concerning immigration, multiculturalism and community cohesion. Myriad factors including globalisation, the financial crisis and a disengaged electorate have been blamed for a decline in national and ethnic identity, and an increased sense of antagonistic xenophobia being attributed to the white-working class.
Speakers included:
Frank Field MP, Labour MP for Birkenhead
Gavin Barwell MP, Conservative MP for Croydon Central
Professor Eric Kaufmann, Birkbeck, University of London
Dr. Gemma Catney, University of Liverpool
Dr. Gareth Harris, Birkbeck, University of London
Dr. Rebecca Taylor, Birkbeck, University of London