Walking, talking and sensing community : lived experiences of a multi-ethnic neighbourhood
In an ever more ethnically diverse UK, debates about migration, difference, place and community have become more pronounced. Urban areas in the UK have seen significant changes in patterns of immigration, while new areas of diversity have emerged in places with little prior history or experiences. However, despite current research that sheds light on the everyday experiences of increasingly profound levels of diversity, little recent attention has been given to inner-city places with longer and more evolved histories of diversity as shaped by the ‘older’ postcolonial migrations. This thesis seeks to contribute to this gap. Based on fieldwork in the Manchester area of Longsight, this thesis provides insights into lived experiences of place, diversity and social relations in an urban locality shaped by white British and British Asian populations. Using field notes and walking interview data, rich and spatially-bound accounts of several local residents with differing backgrounds, heritages and perspectives are explored in-depth. In doing so, this research establishes new knowledge on how community, change and diversity are experienced, accommodated and resisted in the social and physical environments of place. This research challenges overarching policy and societal discourses that increasingly problematise ethnic difference while developing and rethinking the key concept of community.
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations