The Decline of British Multiculturalism: Political Discourse Analysis of UK Labour and Conservative Parties
Abstract
As a country with a long history of immigration due to its colonial past and its previous status as an empire, Britain is often regarded as a multicultural country where ethnic minorities can both enjoy and contribute to the accomplishments of the country. However, over the past decade, and especially since the September 11 attacks, an increasing disfavour towards the policy arose and toughened after the 7 July 2017 London bombings. The current Prime Minister David Cameron officially declared the failure of British multiculturalism after a riot in 2017. Furthermore, the latest terrorist attack in London worsened the public’s attitudes towards immigrants, and especially Muslims. The rich cultural diversity seems no longer welcome. To better understand the attitudinal change in the political arena, the thesis sets out to analyze the role of political discourse of Labour and Conservative party leaders in the decline of multiculturalism in Britain, via Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA).
The theoretical backdrop of this thesis is the ideas of Michel Foucault and Norman Fairclough, who both view language and society as closely linked. Hence, the thesis also takes into consideration the social context in which the speeches occur. The analysis employs Fairclough’s three-dimensional framework for CDA, where the three stages of “description, interpretation and explanation” come for both parties respectively.
The thesis recognizes the decline of multiculturalism in Britain, which is manifested in the multiple discourses on security, obligations and social cohesion. It also concludes that the future of the policy is not optimistic.
Key words: multiculturalism, British political parties, discourse analysis, immigration
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