In what ways is the UK becoming a more culturally diverse society?

DD122 Jodie Crowder

TMA 01

In what ways is the UK becoming a more culturally diverse society?

During the course of this essay I will use my current and previous course materials to answer the question. I will start by explaining my understanding of the terms cultural diversity and then go on to explore how this affects the UK as a society.

Cultural diversity encompasses the cultural differences that exist between people, such as language, dress and traditions, and the way societies organize themselves, their conception of morality and religion, and the way they interact with the environment.

Culture, as a social practice, is not something that individuals possess. Rather, it is a social process in which individuals participate.

Cultural diversity in the UK has changed a huge amount in the last 100 years.

Firstly let's look at the changing role of nationalism since the 40's. Recent times have shown a great change in the meaning of Britain and what it means to be British.

English:

Team Colinked, United Kingdom

The Battle of Trafalgar by J. M. W. Turner (oil on...

On one hand we have joined the larger European community but on the other Britain is being devolved with greater independence for Wales and Scotland.

This change in British culture clearly shows a greater amount of uncertainty and diversity than we had in the immediate post war years. The strong structure of the British Empire has been crumbled. This has allowed many of us more choice about how we define our national identity. However especially for the English it has caused more uncertainty, many are now unsure what it means to be English, since in this multicultural age it can not be ethnically driven. Many of the defining characteristics of the English Aristocracy have been eroded, and there are few purely English structures to cling to. Recently the media have used Sport to define Englishness...