Multiculturalism: some inconvenient truths

Since the London bombings of July 2005, there has been growing concern at the deep-seated segregation and 'ghettoisation' that has become prevalent in several British towns and cities. Hitherto, the approach taken by governments and local authorities parties in this regard can be summarised as benign non-intervention, justified under the rubric of 'multiculturalism'. Migrant communities have led their lives pretty much as in their 'home' countries. By so doing, large sections of these communities have in the process 'sleepwalked' into segregation. Mixing with those not from one's 'own' religious-ethnic community has become minimal - to the point where, for perhaps the majority living in religious-ethnic ghettos, it is virtually non-existent. This in turn leads to the ghettoised communities leading, in effect, parallel lives. The overarching aim of Multiculturalism: Some Inconvenient Truths is to contribute towards a critical understanding of this troubling but profoundly important phenomenon, and provide an input into policy debates. Multiculturalism: Some Inconvenient Truths argues that many of the beliefs and practices of religious-ethnic minorities are oppressive - especially concerning women and children - and that they are profoundly damaging the lives of many of those now trapped within 'mono-religious, mono-cultural' segregated communities. It aims to set a vision of society based on eroding the leading of 'parallel lives' and segregation, and hence rejecting oppressive and divisive cultural and religious practices.