Race, Ethnicity and Migration: Controversies and Impacts in the UK (1992-1997)

RACE, ETHNICITY
AND MIGRATION

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
BACKGROUND OF MIGRATION...............................................................................................2
Theoretical Context................................................................................................................2
Causes and Patterns................................................................................................................3
DISCUSSION OF REASONS FOR MIGRATION AND RACE TO BE CONTROVERSIAL....5
Theory of Citizenship.............................................................................................................8
JUSTIFICATION FOR TIME FRAME..........................................................................................9
Reasons to Identify the Timeline............................................................................................9
Relevance to Current Debates..............................................................................................10
EVALUATION OF IMPACTS OF POLICY, PRACTICE AND MEDIA DEBATES...............10
Policy and Practices related to Migration.............................................................................10
Addressing Contemporary Social Problems.........................................................................10
Critical Evaluation of Policy Responses..............................................................................11
RECOMMENDATIONS...............................................................................................................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Race, Ethnicity and Migration have been quite prominent topics of discussions and
practice and is related to the movement of individuals from one geographical location to another
for residential and commercial purposes. While race deals with different social origins of
individuals living together, ethnicity refers to groups belonging to similar orientations (Erel,
Murji and Nahaboo, 2016). During immigration or migration processes, people tend to move to
another country and become their citizens for a significant amount of time, or for the rest of their
lives. Within countries like United Kingdome, migration has been effective and evident
throughout their history and is a topic of debate and controversies still. Hence, in regards to this,
the report would be undertaking the issue of race, ethnicity and migration within the United
Kingdom during the time period of 1992 to 1997, which marked the inclusion of Britain in the
European Union, resulting in transformation of the nation’s political and social systems due to
this process.
First, it is imperative to understand the historical context of the migration within the
country. Race, Ethnicity and Migration have been a very prominent part of the United Kingdom
even way before the industrial revolution took place (Wray, 2016). However, it was around
1950s which started to bring change within the country. For instance, The Windrush generation
entered the UK in 1948 to fill the shortage of labour. Their number was around 500, which were
later followed by more than 300,000 West Indians in the future 20 years. Moreover, in 1956,
Hungarian Revolution too was an important event which brought refugees within the country
that was a mix of Polish Ukraine and Baltic States Ethnicity. However, one of the most
significant policy which was a major event in the history of immigrations within the country was
the Immigration act in 1971. This reason for this aspect was associated with the racial tensions in
1950s which caused several riots (Five times immigration changed the UK, 2020). Hence, in this
year, laws were passed which limited immigration. Within the history, another aspect within
immigration was associated with 1992, where UK joined the European Union which granted the
EU citizens, equal rights and freedom to live in their chosen member state. Hence, within 5
years, UK’s population saw an immense growth in population of immigrants.
Hence, the report is inclusive of demonstration of critical knowledge of the causes and
patterns of human migration flows within the UK, along with critical analysis of ways in which
migrant communities have been represented in popular discourse. Moreover, the report also
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covers, usage of theoretical and analytical evidence to address contemporary social problems and
critical evaluation of ways in which policy responses to migratory waves have been developed in
the UK.
In addition to this, the chosen timeline for the report is 1992 to 1997. As for justification
for choosing this timeline is that the United Kingdom faced several changes in the policies and
practices in relation to migration as it became a part of the European Union.
Another prominent inclusion within the portfolio is associated with the theories that underpin the
concept of migration, along with the controversies associated with the same. therefore the report
discusses theories such as Ravenstein’s Laws of Migration to describe the concept, along with
Theory of Citizenship to understand the controversial take on the subject/
BACKGROUND OF MIGRATION
Theoretical Context
There are several theories pertaining to Race, Ethnicity and Migration that are necessary to
be evaluated to provide a theoretical background to these elements. Hence, in relation to
migration, one particular theory which would be helping in achieving this concept is mentioned
below: Ravenstein’s Laws of Migration:
One of the most trusted and followed works within the field of mobility of individuals was
related to the Laws of Migration that were set out by E.G. Revenstein. According to his theory,
there were combinations of generalisations, which were claimed to be the laws that are
implemented within a country. Some of these generalisations that are relevant event in the
contemporary environment are stated below:
o The Distance and Volume of Migration shares an inverted relationship, where majority
have a mobility tendency of short distances.
o A stepwise procedure is followed by migration, where individuals tend to move in rapidly
expanding markets as could be seen in 1992 migration of EU citizens within the UK
o The migration volume enhances with diversification within the economy, as well as
betterment of transportation services. Hence, as could be seen from the 1992 immigration
aspect, people moved into UK as it was a vastly growing market with high end
technology, transport and infrastructure for better means of living.
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