Brits prefer to live in cultural ghettos
(12 May 2003)International development charity VSO reveals today that the majority of the UK public are not connecting with other cultures and don’t see this as a problem. In an ICM poll commissioned by the charity 77% of those asked agree that different cultures in Britain merely coexist and not connect. Only 13% said they wanted increased contact with other cultures. Over half, 52%, feel that it’s easier to live in a cultural ghetto isolated from people who seem different.
VSO warns that with a rise in Islamophobia and further Council gains for the BNP, this failure to connect could lead to a further deterioration of cultural and community relations in the UK. In response the international development charity is launching a UK campaign to challenge individuals to step outside their cultural comfort zone and engage with people from other cultures.
VSO’s chief executive, Mark Goldring says:
At a time when community and cultural relations have been put under huge strain, we must offer people a way to repair the damage. Far too much emphasis has been put on public policy to provide solutions. This is not the only answer, what we need is practical action and personal commitment from us all as individuals.
The new VSO report, ‘Cultural Breakthrough’, published today, shows that 80% of those asked believe that a new British society cannot be built without interacting with different cultures. VSO challenges individuals to do exactly that and help, through simple actions, to make Britain a genuinely multicultural society. The report, based on in-depth research and expert analysis, offers 3 practical ways for people to connect in their daily lives with other cultures and communities in Britain and abroad.*1
The report suggests that returning VSO volunteers have the practical skills and experience needed to make multiculturalism work in Britain, and gives concrete examples of volunteers making a real difference within UK communities.
In fact 92% of VSO volunteers consider that their overseas experience has made them more confident in engaging with different cultures. More than two thirds, 69%, have had more contact with people from different cultures in Britain as a result.*2
Editors' notes
- The new report is part of the wider VSO ‘Cultural Breakthrough’ campaign which includes a photo exhibition and a book of essays written by leading journalists, academics and politicians, giving a personal insight into their own cultural connections. Contributors include The Rt Hon David Blunkett MP, George Alagiah, John Barnes, The Rt Hon Chris Patten, Meera Syal, David Ginola, Nitin Sawhney and Lord Bhikhu Parekh. The essays and report are available to download.
- VSO is an international development charity that works through volunteers. For more information call Adam Bowers +44 (0)20 8780 7265 or email adam.bowers@vso.org.uk
Appendix
* Three ways to connect with different cultures
Curiosity is a good thing. It depends on how people go about it.
(Focus group participant)
Find the time: break out of your cultural ghetto. Put yourself in a position where you are in a cultural minority and engage with other people, new ideas and different perspectives.
People have got to get out there, take the risk, jump in the deep end and see for themselves. Don't take other people’s word for it. If you push yourself out there, if you want to know what it is really like...
(Focus group participant)
I feel less apprehension about striking up a conversation with someone who obviously comes from a different culture – I feel able to communicate a lot better and also have some common ground as I too have been in a minority group whilst working in Africa (for the first time in my life)...
(Steve Scott, former VSO volunteer)
Expand your horizons: join an organisation, society or evening class with a cultural focus – whether it is foreign films, languages, music, art or politics. Seek out cultural and community events (festivals, concerts, fairs).
Talking to each other is important but not enough. We need to enter each other’s lives by taking part in community events. We all realise that there are similarities that far outweigh the differences.
(Nita Odedra, former VSO volunteer)
I ran a mentoring scheme at university for new international students - partnering them with British students with some basic training in cross-cultural awareness. We started to expand to include some university staff (eg research assistants) and the non-student partners of mature students, etc which also helped to create links into the community.
(Dep Pople, former VSO volunteer)
Immerse yourself: offer your skills to a local organisation, take part in a community project or consider VSO. See the list of organisations in The Directory and explore volunteer experiences in the case study, below.
At this time when racial divisions and tensions in Burnley are making the news, it was very good to see these young people living, working and socialising as a single group. The local school benefited from learning about life in India.
(Liz and Mike Watson, host family for VSO's World Youth Scheme, in Burnley)
Many of our culturally embedded beliefs can only be properly analysed when outside our own narrow cultural sphere, which is another compelling reason to live and work in another country.
(Hannah Williams, former VSO volunteer)
*2 Case study
After leading a Bradford intercultural comprehensive school for 15 years, John worked with Muslims and Christians as a VSO volunteer in Ethiopia. 'Muslim-Christian relations in Ethiopia have been harmonious since 1541, with joint pilgrimages and intermarriage between members of the two faiths,' explains John. 'Whenever I asked about the differences between believers in each faith, the usual answer, after a pause, would be: ‘Ah, well...he eats different meat from me.'' Back in Bradford, the riots and the disaster of 11 September spurred John to continue working in the interfaith field. He is a member of Concord, a Bradford interfaith group that meets and organizes events, such as a multifaith walk to different places of worship. John has attended interfaith training and is planning further initiatives, including mutual visiting, eating and listening to strengthen local understanding between faiths, particularly between the inner city and outer suburbs of Bradford. 'Bradford is a microcosm of the world,' says John. 'What we do here is a miniature of what is happening globally. What happens globally is a magnification of what we do here.'
(John D Anderson, secondary school headmaster. VSO volunteer: higher education advisor, Ethiopia 2001-2003)
