Integration: Successful Integration Programs in Britain

This essay discusses the concept of integration, measures of integration, and successful integration programs in Britain. It explores the importance of integration in a multicultural society and highlights the efforts taken by the government and society to promote successful integration. The essay concludes that while challenges exist, the rate of successful integration in Britain outweighs the disintegrating forces.

Running head: INTEGRATION
INTEGRATION
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
Integration is a very relevant topic of discussion especially in the context of a
multicultural society whereby one can find several ethnicities living together. Integration is a
vital aspect which exemplifies social cohesion in the nations of the world which receives
immigrants from several other nations in large numbers. Immigration happens for several
reasons, for seeking livelihood and also for seeking a safe haven in some other nation to escape
the perils of the country of domicile. Thus when people belonging to a particular ethnic and
cultural background flock to a different country where the population is ethnically and culturally
different, the need for integration arises as the disparate communities are supposed to adjust with
each other. The immigrant community is supposed to adjust their ways and means in order to
adapt to the new situation, while the indigenous people of the nation have to adjust by means of
accommodating with the immigrants and allowing them to express their cultural practices
(Wiener, Börzel and Risse 2018).
In this particular essay the discussion shall be focused upon the aspect of successful
integration, with special focus on Britain, which is the thesis statement herein. The first section
shall be dealing with the conceptual clarity of integration. The second section shall be dealing
with the issue of measuring integration. The first two sections shall be a general discussion on
the concept while the third section shall be a discussion specifically focusing upon the
integration programs undertaken by the government of Britain. The integration programs
undertaken by Britain has been specifically chosen because of several reasons which have been
statistically proven to be valid. Compared to most other nations of Europe, Britain stands apart in
terms of facilitating successful integration as the pressure upon the immigrant communities to

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give up on their originality is much less (Singer, Svajlenka and Wilson 2015).This claim shall be
substantiated with valid facts in the body of the essay.
Definition of Integration
Integration is a social process by which the differences between the dominant community
and the immigrant community cohabiting in a particular social setting or a nation state is
transcended. The aim of integration is not to absolve the differences but to ensure that the
differences are made more acceptable by means of the spirit of tolerance and naturalizing the
immigrants as a part of the nation despite their differences. In simpler words, integration is the
process by which harmony between the members belonging to the dominant community of a
nation state and the immigrant communities (Beane, J.A., 2016).
According to the definition provided by the United Nation Educational Scientific and
Cultural Organization integration has two connotations. The first meaning deals with providing a
sense of stability to a particular social group. It has to do with the forging of the spirit of
solidarity and an imbibition of the sense that the norms and the rules of the social setting has to
be subscribed to which is supposed to be equal for all (Hainmueller, Hangartner and
Pietrantuono 2017).
The second meaning deals with the aspect of cultural give and take, or the process of
acculturation. It refers to the process by which cultural diversity is promoted by means of the
cultural give and take. Each of the social groups are expected to adjust their cultural practices in
order to accommodate with the other social groups. Adjustment here does not in this context
imply any negative connotation rather it refers to a process whereby the social conditions are
expected to be moulded in such a way that the expression of differences are made possible within

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the reasonable limits (Hainmueller, Hangartner and Pietrantuono 2017). The definition provided
by the UNESCO is the yardstick of measuring successful integration and is also indicative of the
fact that the factor mentioned are necessary for successful integration and also that integration is
either successful or unsuccessful. It cannot include certain aspects and exclude few others.
There are two models of integration which are widely followed across the world. The
Salad Bowl Model of Integration refers to the system whereby the differences are not expected to
be done away with and yet all the visibly different social groups can claim to be a part of the
larger social system. For example, Britain follows the salad bowl of integration. British law does
not make it mandatory for any particular non British ethnic group to give up on their cultural
practices to lay a claim to the British nationhood. One could be of any nationality and yet they
could claim to be having a British citizenship (Goldthorpe 2017). Contrary to the Salad Bowl
Model of Integration, is the Soup Bowl Model of Integration, which is followed in France. It is a
system whereby the various social groups are mechanically made to subscribe to the fundamental
values of the nation even if that meant that one had to compromise with his or her cultural
practices and beliefs (Heckmann and Schnapper 2016).
Measurement of Integration
There are several methods by which integration can be measured. In this context the
yardstick of measurement of integration shall be on the basis of labour market, politics and
education.
Successful Integration into the labour market refers to the process by the first world
countries tend to take in migrants from the third world nations and offer them opportunities to
find an occupation, and that shall also be considered as beneficial for the economy of the host

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nation. This particular process of integration is more appropriately explained as a process which
happens by the initiative of the developed western nation of the west vis-à-vis the
underdeveloped nations of the world (Sarvimäki and Hämäläinen 2016). In this regard, the
example of mass immigration of people from the former colonies to the nation of the former
colonizers in the period of cold war must be cited. The decade of 1970s is very important in this
regard as that was the year when the people from the third world had started immigrating in huge
numbers to the nations of their former colonizers. France received immigrants from her North
African colonies such as Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco (Kogan 2016). Britain had witnessed a
mass immigration from India and Pakistan especially. The case of Germany and the Gulf
Countries is different. Germany had colonies as well but the immigrants from Turkey as a part of
agreement between the two countries as a part of a labour intaking program embarked upon by
Germany to supplement the growing industries with man power. Turkey and Germany were
however allies in the First World War and that was how the connection between the two nations
was formed (Sarvimäki and Hämäläinen 2016).
With regard to the successful integration in the sphere of politics, it basically refers to the
process by which the issues of the immigrants are to be taken seriously and their specific needs
be meted out by the host nation. The opportunity to the immigrants to be a part of the state
politics and by allowing them to have a chance in articulating their grievances is a part of
political integration. Another form of politics integration can be done by means of making
policies which shall be promoting cultural diversity and that shall be making racial
discrimination of any kind illegal. The election of Sadiq Khan as the mayor of London, election
of Prime Minister Leo Varadkar as the Prime Minister of Ireland are few examples of political
integration (Guo 2015).

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Successful Educational Integration shall be consisting of passing of policies that shall
make the educational institutions secular so that they can disseminate education without being
biased towards any particular faith or ethnicity. Another way of educational integration is by
means of creating conditions whereby the educational institutions shall not be biased towards
any particular racial background and the students must be allowed to express their cultural
sentiments in the environment of the educational institutions. France for example has made it
mandatory for all schools to refrain from disseminating religious education in order to integrate
students irrespective of their faith (Guo 2015).
Integration Programs undertaken in Britain
Britain, as it has been specified in the previous section, that she follows Salad Bowl
Model of integration. In this section few examples shall be shared to provide an account of
integration program that is conducted by Britain. In the labour market of Britain, one can find not
just labour force from the EU but also from other parts of the world. The agricultural sector of
Britain has a workforce which is mostly non British and the percentage of Romanians working in
there is quite high. Britain has with regard to upholding the principle of educational integration
has introduced the system of Voluntary Controlled Schools which are mostly owned by private
entities and especially the minority communities (Barbulescu 2019). However, all schools are
expected to disseminate secular education and they are not supposed to discriminate in term of
enrolling students. There is also bar on the immigrant communities with regard to the building up
of their religious shrines and conducting their religious practices. Compared to most other
nations of Europe, the British muslims have better chance to express and practice their faith.
While most other nations on Europe like France and Belgium has imposed the hijab ban to keep

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the public sphere out of any religious undertone, Britain has not imposed any such ban. British
muslim women can dress according to their choice and are free to wear not just the hijab but also
the niqab. In order to show solidarity to the muslim community of Britain, Princess Katherine
William had paid her official visit to a mosque in Malaysia donning a head scarf and following
the Islamic code of dressing. Though it was not something which had happened in London, it is
significant as it was done in memory of her mother in law, Princess Diana who had visited a
mosque at London and at Lahore dressed in a similar fashion twenty years back (de Graauw and
Bloemraad 2017). It was indeed very symbolic and reflective of the integrative spirit of the
nation. These programs show that Britain is quite proactive in living up to the spirit of
integration. Legally, the most important legal statute which aids the integration is the Equality
Act of 2010 which has made racial discrimination as illegal and punishable by law (Singer,
Svajlenka and Wilson 2015). Not only the government, the general public is also very much
favourably disposed towards imbibing the spirit of successful integration. When the arson at the
Grenfell Tower had taken place in London, which had engulfed quite a lot of people and majorly
people from the Islamic world, the whole nation had expressed their solidarity towards the
victims. There were provisions to shift the homeless survivors to other location which is quite
worthy of being called a reflective of the integrationist mindset of the people of Britain.
However, there are limits to integration as well and that had come about in the aftermath of the
Grenfell incident as well. The victims were shifted to a posh neighbourhood and the residents
had raised objections that they were being made to stay alongside persons having not the level of
sophistication appropriate for being residents of the apartment (Singer, Svajlenka and Wilson
2015).

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Having talked of the integration programs undertaken by Britain, the discussion shall
now be focusing upon whether the integration process has been successful in Britain. On the
basis of these accounts provided, the involvement of the civilian government and the royalty of
the nation is clearly visible in the process of facilitating successful integration. It would be
unjustified to say that Britain is devoid of her share of problems with regard to the occurrence of
untoward incidents that fuel hatred towards the immigrants but at the same time the efforts taken
to promote successful integration are also profound and deserves mention.
Conclusion
Thus from the previous discussion it becomes quite clear that successful integration is
indeed a necessary aspect of modern nation states to be followed for the sake of achieving
harmony and peace among the people of the nation. It is indeed an important factor in order to
uphold the spirit of unity and humanity. Hence it can be said that the picture in Britain with
regard to integration is of dual nature as both integration and aspects hampering the integration
are present. However, at the same time it has to be said that the programs show that the rate of
success of integration is much more than the disintegrating forces. Britain definitely has her
share of problems but the rate of success of integration weighs higher than the rate of
disintegration in the nation.

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