6605 01 CRE study c2 - Ethnos

1 CitizenshipAND BELONGING: Britishness ?WHAT ISA research studyCITIZENSHIP AND BELONGING: WHAT IS BRITISHNESS?This project was commissioned from Ethnos Research andConsultancy by the commission for racial equality (CRE) in Research and Consultancy1 Holly HillLondon, NW3 The views expressed in this report are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily represent the views of the commission for racial equality . commission for racial EqualitySt Dunstan s House, 201-211 Borough High StreetLondon SE1 1 GZPublished November 2005 ISBN 1 85442 573 02 CITIZENSHIP AND BELONGING: WHAT IS BRITISHNESS?CONTENTSSUMMARY1.

2 INTRODUCTIONB ackgroundAims and assumptions 2. METHODOLOGYR esearch designTopic guide for focus groupsIndividual tasksSamplingThe researchers3. WHAT IS BRITISHNESS?Britishness: a common ideaGeographyNational symbolsPeopleValues and attitudesCultural habits and behaviourCitizenshipLanguageAchievements Summary4. IDENTIFICATION WITH BRITISHNESSWho regards themselves as British?Other sources of identificationThe salience of identitiesConclusions3 CITIZENSHIP AND BELONGING: WHAT IS BRITISHNESS?5. THE MEANING OF SUCCESS AchievementPersonal qualities Measuring successPrivate spherePublic sphereFields of success and successful Britons ConclusionsTABLES AND FIGUREST able 1: SamplingTable 2: Successful Britons , by field and ethnic groupFigure 1: What is Britishness?

3 Figure 2: The meaning of successAPPENDICESA ppendix A: Topic guide for focus groupsAppendix B: Word association taskAppendix C: Sentence completion taskAppendix D: References4 CITIZENSHIP AND BELONGING: WHAT IS BRITISHNESS? OF THE RESEARCHThe commission for racial equality commissioned Ethnos to carryout research on the ways in which British people of different ethnicbackgrounds living in England, Scotland and Wales think about Britishness , and about success . The aims of the research were to: obtain a more detailed understanding of the process of integration; investigate Britishness, and bring society closer to answering thequestion, what is Britishness?

4 ; explore whether and how Britishness plays a role in integration, and what constitutes success in society; and stimulate debate about Britishness and research design combined three approaches: focus groups; word association exercises; and sentence completion sample included 96 people from various ethnic backgrounds: White English White Scottish White Welsh Black Caribbean Black African Indian5 CITIZENSHIP AND BELONGING: WHAT IS BRITISHNESS? Pakistani BangladeshiThe sample was equally divided between England, Scotland and Wales. It included an even split of men and women. Ethnic minorityparticipants were a mix of first, second and third generation research participants were British citizens.

5 Most groups weremoderated by researchers of similar ethnic backgrounds to those of the participants. III. FINDINGSWHAT IS BRITISHNESS?Most of the research participants shared a common representation of Britishness, ranging over eight dimensions: Geography: Britishness was associated with the British Isles, andwith typical topographic features, such as the Scottish Highlands,lochs, Welsh valleys, and rolling hills. National symbols:Britishness was symbolised by the Union Jackand the royal family. People:Three different ways of thinking about the British peopleemerged: for some participants, the British included all Britishcitizens (that is, those who hold UK passports), regardless of region or ethnicity; for others, the British were exclusively associated withwhite English people; and for others still, the British included peopleof very diverse ethnic origins.

6 Values and attitudes:These included upholding human rights andfreedoms, respect for the rule of law, fairness, tolerance and respectfor others, reserve and pride (generally valued by white Englishparticipants and criticised by white Scottish and white Welshparticipants, as well as those from ethnic minority backgrounds), a strong work ethic, community spirit, mutual help, stoicism andcompassion, and drunkenness, hooliganism and AND BELONGING: WHAT IS BRITISHNESS? Cultural habits and behaviour:These included queuing; watchingand supporting football, cricket and rugby; and consuming food and drink such as fish and chips , English breakfast , Yorkshirepudding , cream teas , cucumber sandwiches , roast beef , Sunday lunch , curries and beer.

7 Citizenship:For Scottish and Welsh participants, and for mostparticipants from ethnic minority backgrounds, Britishness was verymuch associated with holding a UK passport. This was not salientamong white English participants. Language:English was seen as a common language that unites the British people. The array of British accents (in terms of regionaland class differences) was also seen as typically British. Achievements:Britishness was associated with political andhistorical achievements (the establishment of parliamentarydemocracy, empire and colonialism); technological and scientificachievements (the industrial revolution, medical discoveries);sporting achievements (the invention of many sports); and pop cultural achievements.

8 IDENTIFICATION WITH BRITISHNESSW hile the content of Britishness was shared across most groups, therewere important differences in the ways in which participants personallyrelated to, and identified with, UK passport holders, all the participants knewthey were Britishcitizens, but not everyone attached any value significanceto being British. In Scotland and Wales, white and ethnic minority participantsidentified more strongly with each of those countries than with England, white English participants perceived themselves as Englishfirst and as British second, while ethnic minority participants perceivedthemselves as British; none identified as English, which they saw asmeaning exclusively white people.

9 Thus, the participants who identifiedmost strongly with Britishness were those from ethnic minoritybackgrounds resident in AND BELONGING: WHAT IS BRITISHNESS?Ethnic minority participants also drew on other sources of identification:religion (for Muslims only); ethnicity (region, country or continent oforigins, and their associated cultures); and race or colour (for blackCaribbean and black African participants only). These various identitiesbecame more or less salient in different situations. They were seen asbeing compatible with MEANING OF SUCCESS Success was a unifying concept: participants from very differentbackgrounds had a common view of what constitutes success, of the qualities needed to succeed and of the ways in which success may be measured or assessed.

10 Success was equated with achievement,and as the outcome of personal qualities; those who show ambition,determination, drive, persistence, single-mindedness, creativity and whowork hard, regardless of ethnicity, religion or class, can all be successful. Success may be manifested either in the private sphere in which caseit was associated with quality of life (manifested through good health,financial freedom, happiness and a good family life); or in the publicsphere in which case it was associated with outstanding achievements(manifested through wealth, fame, leadership and making a positivecontribution to society).