International debate: Is European Multiculturalism in Crisis?

02 Mar 2012

Friday 23 March (4-6pm) in the Samuel Alexander Theatre, Samuel Alexander Building.

Participants include:

Nicolas Bancel (Université de Lausanne)
Mary Dejevsky (Chief Editorial Writer and Columnist, The Independent)
Jon Gower Davies (writer)
Kenan Malik (Writer, Broadcaster)
Tariq Modood (Director of Bristol University Research Centre for the Study of Ethnicity and Citizenship)
Erik van Ree (University of Amsterdam)

The debate is organised in connection with the AHRC-funded research project ‘Mediating Post-Soviet Difference: An Analysis of Russian Television Representations of Inter-Ethnic Cohesion Issues’, which focuses on the reporting of ethnic tensions and the promotion/undermining of multiculturalism. Details of the project can be found at:

Is European Multiculturalism in Crisis?

Across Europe, public figures are questioning whether multiculturalism has a future as a policy for ensuring inter-ethnic cohesion. It has been criticized for encouraging separatist extremism, for undermining core national values, and for preventing immigrant cultures from integrating into their host communities. Others argue that the assault on multiculturalism is driven by covert racism, that assimilationism (the French approach) has had no more success, that it is a crisis in neoliberalism which is the true cause of the conflicts, and that multicultural difference is here to stay.

Each nation has interpreted multiculturalism differently (raising questions about the very meaning of the term) and each national context is distinct, but there has been little opportunity to compare, to distinguish and to learn from, the plurality of experiences, and to debate the issues on a trans-European basis. This event makes space for just such a debate, and will, we hope, contribute to a better understanding of the various scenarios facing European societies, and of their likely consequences.

There's no need to book - just come along in plenty of time for a seat!

For more information about the event, please contact: