Ethnic minority life: experts give fullest picture yet
Published: 28 October 2013
The UK’s largest research centre on ethnicity, The Centre on Dynamics of Ethnicity (CoDE), jointly based at the University of Manchester and the University of Glasgow, and funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, is being officially launched this week.
The UK’s largest research centre on ethnicity, The Centre on Dynamics of Ethnicity (CoDE), jointly based at the University of Manchester and the University of Glasgow, and funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, is being officially launched at an event in Manchester on Wednesday 30th October.
The launch conference will present thirteen reports by world renowned academics at the University of Manchester which cover everything from where minorities live, where they come from, what languages they speak, what they do, how healthy they are and even how British they feel. These initial briefings are based on published data for England and Wales from the 2011 Census.
Andrew Smith, Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Glasgow said “The on-going work of the Centre of Dynamics of Ethnicity aims to radically improve our understanding of the changing shape of ethnic inequalities and identities across the UK. This includes a specifically Scottish focus. The Centre will be producing briefings on the Scottish census data from 2011, exploring questions of national identity and diversity in Scotland, and will support new research studies investigating the Irish Catholic question, the engagement of minority communities with the forthcoming independence referendum, as well as a detailed case-study of the changing dynamics of ethnicity in the Govanhill and Pollokshields areas of Glasgow”.
CoDE Director, Professor James Nazroo from The University of Manchester, said "An unequivocal message has emerged from these initial 13 Census briefings: as a society we are becoming increasingly ethnically diverse, but social inequalities have continued and are striking in 2011.
"And sadly, negative misconceptions about the lives of people in ethnic minority groups are still common. But our work has challenged them by showing what exists in reality.
"We show, for example that segregation is not increasing and that ethnic minority people in fact are as likely to feel as British as everyone else - and this might not sit comfortably with mainstream opinion.
"But we also show how if you're from an ethnic minority group, you are still likely to have unequal access in housing, employment and good health.”
"This important work will extend into deeper analysis of national data and four case study areas: Cardiff, Manchester, Glasgow and the London Borough of Newham."
The event will feature presentations from leading academics in the field, including Professors Simpson and Nazroo, Prof Satnam Virdee and Dr Nissa Finney.
Agencies and social commentators, including Sunder Katwala, British Futures, Rob Berkeley from the Runnymede Trust and Gary Christie from the Scottish Refugee Council will also appraise the research.
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All of CoDE'S briefings are available at http://www.ethnicity.ac.uk/
CoDE was established in April 2013, funded by the ESRC it is the UKs largest research centre on ethnicity. Based jointly at the University of Manchester and University of Glasgow, the core agenda of CoDE is to transform our understanding of the contemporary patterning of ethnic inequalities and identities, and to provide the knowledge and tools to enhance policy and public capacity to engage in this area.
The "Dynamics of diversity: evidence from the 2011 Census" conference will take place at Humanities Bridgeford Street, Oxford Road, University of Manchester on 30th October, between 10am and 4.30pm. The event is free to attend and supported by The University of Manchester Hallsworth Fund. To register and see the full programme visit: http://www.ethnicity.ac.uk/events/.
First published: 28 October 2013
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