The Uneasy Cosmopolitanism? Who Said That Nonsuburban, Renaissance Life Should Be Easy?
"A string of eateries on the Seven Sisters Road offers an instant glimpse of the ethnic mosaic that is London.
In quick succession along this main thoroughfare of Finsbury Park, in the north of the city, stand the Alban Cafe (Kosovan), Kostas (Greek), Hana (Japanese) and Fassika (Ethopian). A few yards away are a Somali social centre, a Turkish convenience store, a Chinese massage parlour and a newly opened Polish food shop.
All that within hailing distance of both the Rainbow Theatre, a former rock venue that now houses a black evangelical church, and the Finsbury Park mosque, former base of Abu Hamza al-Masri, the extremist cleric jailed this year for inciting hatred....
Global shifts are driving immigration. The weakening of border controls following the end of communism are, along with economic globalisation and the spread of low-cost air travel and telecommunications, all playing their part. But increased immigration has also sharpened debate about its effects. Supporters cite the benefits of low-cost workers who ease skills shortages. Critics warn of the impact on low-paid natives, public services and national identity. Meanwhile, Islamist terrorist attacks in New York, Madrid and London have kindled fears about the intentions of disaffected Muslims....
The recent history of migration shows, however, that those global forces are very powerful - and hard for governments to control. The net inflow into the UK reached 235,000 in the year to mid-2005, up from 47,000 in the first year of the Blair era. The population exceeded 60m for the first time and is set to grow further, driven largely by more immigration....
The European Union's 2004 enlargement eastward prompted a particularly sharp surge. According to the Home Office, 427,000 registered to work in the UK between May 2004 and June 2006. The total number could be as high as 600,000 once the unregistered are counted. However, east Europeans, unlike those from further afield, will not necessarily settle. As Cezary Olszewski, a Polish-born businessman who is setting up a network of financial services centres for the newcomers, says: "If you ask people how long they will stay, they say they don't know."
Migration has increased the number of foreign-born residents by 30 per cent in a decade to more than 5m - or nearly 10 per cent of the population, not counting some 250,000-500,000 illegal migrants. In London, which has the world's biggest concentration of immigrants, the foreign-born number about 30 per cent. However, the east Europeans are more willing than previous migrants to go outside the capital: Polish workers have become a commonplace sight on Norfolk farms, in Scottish bars and at Cornish hotels....
Rapid economic growth under Mr Blair has allowed the country to absorb migrants. But unemployment is on the way up, posting its largest annual increase in a decade in the year to July. Even the CBI [check], which generally favours immigration, now argues for temporary controls on arrivals from Romania and Bulgaria, the next two EU members....
Communities change, improvements are possible and no one is condemned to a jobless ghetto. For example, young black Caribbean women have made notable gains in the past decade, increasing their employment rate and developing careers. Black entrepreneurs, much scarcer than Asians, are starting to make a mark. Jenni Campbell, advertising manager of The Voice, the Afro-Caribbean newspaper, says: "There has always been the perception that black businesses were never supposed to be part of the mainstream. But that is beginning to change now." ...
Stefan Wagstyl "The uneasy cosmopolitan: how migrants are enriching an ever more anxious host" Financial Times September 21, 2006
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/eed94254-490c-11db-a996-0000779e2340.html
Proto-renaissance visual art in Adams-Morgan, Washington, D.C., North America.
Photo credit: (c) Ivan Corsa via Global Graphica. Photo Blog of Street Art, Graffiti, Graphics, Interiors, Architecture, City Life + www.globalgraphica.com With thanks.
In quick succession along this main thoroughfare of Finsbury Park, in the north of the city, stand the Alban Cafe (Kosovan), Kostas (Greek), Hana (Japanese) and Fassika (Ethopian). A few yards away are a Somali social centre, a Turkish convenience store, a Chinese massage parlour and a newly opened Polish food shop.
All that within hailing distance of both the Rainbow Theatre, a former rock venue that now houses a black evangelical church, and the Finsbury Park mosque, former base of Abu Hamza al-Masri, the extremist cleric jailed this year for inciting hatred....
Global shifts are driving immigration. The weakening of border controls following the end of communism are, along with economic globalisation and the spread of low-cost air travel and telecommunications, all playing their part. But increased immigration has also sharpened debate about its effects. Supporters cite the benefits of low-cost workers who ease skills shortages. Critics warn of the impact on low-paid natives, public services and national identity. Meanwhile, Islamist terrorist attacks in New York, Madrid and London have kindled fears about the intentions of disaffected Muslims....
The recent history of migration shows, however, that those global forces are very powerful - and hard for governments to control. The net inflow into the UK reached 235,000 in the year to mid-2005, up from 47,000 in the first year of the Blair era. The population exceeded 60m for the first time and is set to grow further, driven largely by more immigration....
The European Union's 2004 enlargement eastward prompted a particularly sharp surge. According to the Home Office, 427,000 registered to work in the UK between May 2004 and June 2006. The total number could be as high as 600,000 once the unregistered are counted. However, east Europeans, unlike those from further afield, will not necessarily settle. As Cezary Olszewski, a Polish-born businessman who is setting up a network of financial services centres for the newcomers, says: "If you ask people how long they will stay, they say they don't know."
Migration has increased the number of foreign-born residents by 30 per cent in a decade to more than 5m - or nearly 10 per cent of the population, not counting some 250,000-500,000 illegal migrants. In London, which has the world's biggest concentration of immigrants, the foreign-born number about 30 per cent. However, the east Europeans are more willing than previous migrants to go outside the capital: Polish workers have become a commonplace sight on Norfolk farms, in Scottish bars and at Cornish hotels....
Rapid economic growth under Mr Blair has allowed the country to absorb migrants. But unemployment is on the way up, posting its largest annual increase in a decade in the year to July. Even the CBI [check], which generally favours immigration, now argues for temporary controls on arrivals from Romania and Bulgaria, the next two EU members....
Communities change, improvements are possible and no one is condemned to a jobless ghetto. For example, young black Caribbean women have made notable gains in the past decade, increasing their employment rate and developing careers. Black entrepreneurs, much scarcer than Asians, are starting to make a mark. Jenni Campbell, advertising manager of The Voice, the Afro-Caribbean newspaper, says: "There has always been the perception that black businesses were never supposed to be part of the mainstream. But that is beginning to change now." ...
Stefan Wagstyl "The uneasy cosmopolitan: how migrants are enriching an ever more anxious host" Financial Times September 21, 2006
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/eed94254-490c-11db-a996-0000779e2340.html
Proto-renaissance visual art in Adams-Morgan, Washington, D.C., North America.
Photo credit: (c) Ivan Corsa via Global Graphica. Photo Blog of Street Art, Graffiti, Graphics, Interiors, Architecture, City Life + www.globalgraphica.com With thanks.
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