230567 Multicultural Britain (S) (WiSe 2008/2009)

There is little doubt that Britain's society is multiethnic. But is it multicultural too? Or has it been once? For approaching these questions, we will look into the history of migration to Britain, discuss concepts such as multiculturalism, antiracism, pluralism, integration etc. We will also investigate the lives of minority ethnic people in Britain in terms of both, material conditions and the ways in which they make sense of their lives. Concentrating on the time since 1945, we will study different types of materials - ranging from historical and autobiographical accounts via sociological analyses to what in Britain is called the "ethnic press" and to some artistic (or in a narrow sense cultural) statements on these questions.

A reader with materials will be provided in the first session.