Towards Multiculture

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Lecture 7

• Towards Multiculture

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Lecture Outline

• History of migration into Britain
• Experiences of migrants
• Contributions to British cultural life
• Theories
• Sub cultures

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South Asians in Britain

• What different groups came to Britain from South
  Asia?
• What is identified as their contribution to
  British culture and society?

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Handsworth, Toxteth, Southall
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Linton Kwesi Johnson, LKJ, Poet and the Roots

• Dread Beat and Blood (1978)
• It Dread inna Inglan
• 5 Nights of Bleeding
• Sonnys Letter

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It Dread Inna Inglan

• Dem frame up George Lindo up in Bradford townbut
  de Bradford blaks dem a rally roundme seh dem
  frame up George Lindo up in Bradford townbut de
  Bradford blaks dem a rally roundMaggi Tatcha on
  di go wid a racist show but a she haffi go kaw
  rite now,African, Asian, West Indian, an Black
  British stan firm inna Inglaninna disya time
  yahFar noh mattah wat dey say,come wat may,we
  are here to stayinna Inglaninna disya time
  yah... George Lindo - im is a workin manGeorge
  Lindo - im is a famili manGeorge Lindo - he
  never do no wrongGeorge Lindo - di innocent wan
  George Lindo - im nuh carri no daggerGeorge
  Lindo - im is not no robberGeorge Lindo - dem
  haffi let im gohGeorge Lindo - dem betta free im
  now !

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Contemporary Outsiderism

• 1. Racial exclusion replaced by cultural
  exclusion.
• 2. Racism against newer migrants.
• 3. Commodification of cultural productions of
  ethnicities races

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Birmingham School of Cultural Studies

• 1. Need to consider race, not just class.
• 2. Focus on popular culture. Ie youth, resistance
  against domination.
• 3. Culture as a site for contestation.

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Hall on New Ethnicities

• Two key moments in post-war black experience in
  Britain.
• Coining of the term black to refer to a common
  experience of racism.
• Displaced (not replaced) by another kind of
  politics. From relations of representation to a
  politics of representation.

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Gilroy Aint no Black in the Union Jack.

• black Atlantic culture-not specifically
  African, American, Caribbean or British.
• Need to see black people as part of this country.
  
• Cultures and politics draws on the US and
  Caribbean.
• Hip hop and reggae artist-adopt names of African
  chiefs involved in anti-colonial struggle.
• Culture as interconnected and dynamic.
• Coming out of the struggle against national
  cultures.

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Dick Hebdige (1979) Subcultures the meaning of
style

• Subcultures (Punks, Mods, Teddy Boys)
• Musical origins (dynamic)
• Roots not constant.
• Versioning of culture--variant versions like
  musical styles.

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PUNK
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Punk - Boredom in Babylon

• Apocalypse
• Hybrid between reggae and rock
• Hebdige decodes the dialogue between two forms
  (punk and reggae)
• Traces the internal composition and significance
  of both reggae and the British working class
  youth cultures which preceded punk (1979 29)

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Black Styles and Urban Britain

• Music, dress, dance, fashion and languages
  cultural syncretism.
• History of black presence in cultural sites of
  music and dance.
• Racial hierarchies inverted in dance halls-black
  culture reigned supreme.
• Mobile sound systems - from Jamaica in the 1950s.

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Bob Marley/Ska/Post-punk/Hip-hop

• Bob Marley fashioned for white audience.
• Politics of ska/two-tone (eg Specials)
• Marleys role take up by post-punk white reggae
  eg Police.
• Hip Hop-combination of African-Caribbean,
  Hispanic and Black American cultures.

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Hybridity

• Cultural mixes, creolisation, difference.
• Critique of hybridity as another fetish to be
  consumed in a capitalist market.