Centre for Study of democracy: International

Community Project

Department of Politics and International Relations

Where are we so far: Centre for Study of Democracy:

Democracy & Education Network (DEN) • International Community

Project (ICP)• Student Forums Project• Momentum Student Research

Four GICP - Research

Groups • Middle East • L. America• East Africa• South Asia

L. America: aims and rationales

• Geographical location • To differentiate between various waves

of LA immigration to London. • 1970s - the Immigration Act 1971. • Refugees in the 1980’s and 1990’s, or

2000’s – economic immigration. 

L. America: aims and rationales

• Employment• Education • Language as a barrier to employment • Level of integration, first and second generation • Assimilation, alienation and exclusion• Race and Racism  • Political participation in local and general election

L. America: Plan for the future

• Visit community • Language, Spanish, spoken in the team• Interviews

 

East Africa: aims and rationales

• Sudanese community• Integration, inclusion and exclusion • The role of community • Social issues • Refugee: when they came here • Remittance

East Africa: Plan for the future

• To organise a trip to community • Invite the community leaders • Arranging meeting executive office • Any suggestions? please feel free

South Asia: aims and rationales

Interest: Burma: going through the political transition to democracy• Identify the Burmese community in London • Involvement in British politics• Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka• Ethnic divisions between these communities

and the sub-divisions within them such as Kashmir and the Tamil’s

• Conducting research with the youth• Comparing the cultural differences and fusion of

western values- which individuals who were born here hols compared to those who immigrated here and divisions within generations.

South Asia: Plan for the future

• Visit the community • Interviews

Middle East – Turkey / Kurdish: aims and rationales

• Mainly concentrated in Boroughs of Haringey, Hackney and Enfield.

• Intergenerational issues • Interaction between generations is fractured

over lifestyle choices• Turkish values and identity•  Links to Turkey as many community groups

are involved in political issues there• Refugees and remittances • Democracy and civic participation

Middle East – Turkey / Kurdish: Plan

• Visit to community • Link to community • Inviting community leaders

Some examples of what we can do for next meeting:

Somalis • 100,000 - official 2006, • 38,000 Moslems • Late 19th Century, as• Seamen in the British Merchant Navy and

settled in most port cities• A second wave of Somali immigrants

started arriving with the British Navy during the Second World War

When/why did they come to the UK?

• Due to the demand for labour in the steel industry

• Sheffield and South Yorkshire were among the first places the Somalis settled

• Community originally settled on arrival in the 1940s

• The most recent Somali migrants arrived mainly as refugees in the late 1980s

Community today• Heterogeneous group made up of:• long-settled local communities, civil

war refugee families and recent arrivals from Europe

• Somaliland, Southern Somalis

What else?