Migration, postindustrialism and the globalized nation state: social capital and social cohesion re-examined

In Britain issues of migration are framed by the government's commitment to achieving community cohesion through embracing diversity. The social capital said to bind social cohesion is the shared values of tolerance, human rights and equality. Migrants, as outsiders, have to acquire this social capital to participate in the cultural economy of modern Britain. Failure of both new and settled migrant communities to achieve cohesiveness is seen to threaten modern Britishness. Against this prescription we argue that 'social cohesion' has been radically challenged by the transformations of postindustrialism, the new dynamics of migration and its securitization, and the changing politics of national belonging. Where community cohesion is understood only in terms of the threats posed to it by migration, the explanatory terrain for understanding the instabilities of contemporary social life are reduced. Blaming migration fuels racialization. It denies the strategic importance of both migration and multiculturalism, diminishes commitment to diversity, and undermines social inclusiveness and form of collective belonging. Keywords: Migrationpostindustrialismsocial cohesionbelongingglobalized state Notes 1. In fact, the following year someone Asian did win but in very controversial circumstances. Additional informationNotes on contributorsHelen Crowley HELEN CROWLEY is Lecturer in Women's Studies at London Metropolitan University Mary J. Hickman MARY J. HICKMAN is Director of the Institute for the Study of European Transformations and Professor of Irish Studies and Sociology at the London Metropolitan University