Contesting Culture Discourses of Identity in Multi-ethnic London

This book is a vivid ethnographic account of an aspect of contemporary British life, and a challenge to the conventional discourse of community studies.

This innovative 1996 study presents an account of the interaction of people from different ethnic backgrounds who live in Southall, the most densely populated, multi-ethnic ghetto in the London area. Breaking with the tradition of studying a single ethnic community, Gerhard Baumann treats Southall as a social field, in which various immigrant groups come to terms with one another and with the dominant, if distant, host culture. The people of Southall affirm ethnic distinctiveness in some contexts, but they are also engaged in rethinking their identities and in debating the meaning of their cultural heritage. This book is at once a vivid ethnographic account of an aspect of contemporary British life, and a challenge to the conventional discourse of community studies.

1. Introduction: the proceeds of research; 2. The argument; 3. A shared Southall culture?; 4. The dominant discourse applied: 'self-evident' communities of culture; 5. The dominant discourse denied: community as creation, culture as process; 6. 'Culture' and 'community' as terms of cultural contestation; 7. Conclusion.

In this 1996 book, Gerhard Baumann examines the area of Southall, the most densely populated, multi-ethnic ghetto in the London area. This vivid ethnographic account analyses various immigrant groups as they come to terms with one another, and engage in rethinking their identities as well as the meaning of their cultural heritage.