The EU,UKIP and the Politics of Immigration in Britain

Immigration politics in Britain have been transformed by high levels of immigration, the effects of EU free movement, strong anti‐immigration sentiment and UKIP's rise. All are compounded by a more general discontent with politics and politicians. In face of claims that something must be done, politicians seek tougher controls on immigration and free movement, but these may be difficult to attain because of entanglement with EU rules, while failure to achieve stated objectives can further compound the disconnect that fuels support for UKIP.     

‘It's the Demography,Stupid’: Ethnic Change and Opposition to Immigration

It is often forgotten that, regardless of time or place, periods of high immigration are almost always periods of high anti‐immigration sentiment. When ethnic change is rapid, driven by immigration or differences in ethnic natural increase, the ethnic majority often responds with a politics of immigration. This was true, for instance, in Britain in the 1960s, in the US during 1890–1925 and in interwar Scotland. I show that White British people in locales experiencing rapid ethnic change are more likely to call for lower immigration and to vote BNP. On the other hand, where there is already a high level of ethnic minorities, white opinion is less hostile to immigration: UKIP does poorly among whites in diverse areas. Habituation to change, typically within a decade, and assimilation—especially of Europeans—over a generation reduces hostility to immigration. If the rate of ethnic change slows, we should therefore expect a reduction in the salience of immigration. Ironically, because the children of European migrants are more readily accepted into the ethnic majority than is the case for non‐Europeans, a shift from EU free movement to non‐European skilled migrants, as is advocated by UKIP, could run counter to the wishes of its own supporters.     

抗战时期国民政府侨团政策探究

抗战爆发后,国民政府为争取更大的社会资源,更好地利用海外侨社的力量,迅速调整侨务政策,包括侨团政策在内。除了继续进行海外侨团登记外,还积极地整合侨团,要求党员渗透入侨团组织,掌握侨团领导权,同时也赋予侨团更大的权力,且更为突出的手段则是积极拉拢侨领,通过侨领来控制侨团,从而达到控制侨社的目的。从政策绩效角度而言,国民政府的侨团政策取得一定的成绩,但由于将党务纳入侨务的做法,也加剧了海外侨社的矛盾,致成海外侨社陷入党内纠纷。     

海外华商研究:人口、经济与跨国主义

以往学术界对于海外华商的研究多集中于东南亚华商,而较少关注20世纪70年代末从大陆出国,在海外从事义乌小商品等中国商品贸易的华商。从事义乌小商品等中国商品贸易的海外华商大多是20世纪80年代后出国的第一代新移民,受教育程度以初、高中居多,来源地较为广泛。他们因在跨国贸易链中所处的位置不同,经济实力差距非常大,内部出现了明显的分化趋向:他们既不乏实力雄厚的大批发商,也有很多从事零售生意。这些华商深深扎根于移居国及其他国家,但又维持着与中国的多重联系,持续的、经常性的跨界交往成为他们生存和发展的重要策略。     

试论国内华侨博物馆的地域特点及文化认同功能

华侨博物馆作为华侨华人文化遗产收藏、保护、研究、展示的专门机构,其兴建主体、捐赠主体、展陈内容等方面有着明显的地域特点。华侨博物馆在促进华侨华人乡土文化认同及中华文化认同方面有着得天独厚的条件和方法,它通过具有地域特点的藏品和展览为海外华侨华人的乡土文化认同构建提供了基础和途径。基于这些优势,华侨博物馆将在促进华侨华人乡土认同方面发挥越来越重要的作用。     

东南亚华侨华人对中国软实力建构的作用——以“亲诚惠容”理念为视角

本文以东南亚华侨华人在中国的东南亚软实力构建过程中的角色为研究对象,以中国政府提出"亲诚惠容"周边外交理念和方针为研究背景,在介绍东南亚华侨华人基本概况的基础上,重点分析东南亚华侨华人在中国软实力构建中的作用,并就"亲诚惠容"理念对中国东南亚软实力建设及东南亚华侨华人在其中的独特作用展开探讨。     

Telling more than they can know? Does the most important issue really reveal what is most important to voters?

Recent British Election Studies have asked respondents to nominate ‘the most important issue’. Responses to this question have been used to explain individual vote decisions and characterise the issue-component of those elections. This paper, however, finds limited evidence that individuals place more weight on those issues that they report as ‘most important’ when they vote. It also finds that aggregate responses to the MII question broadly match the estimated ‘average’ impact of those issues on voters. This suggests that even if voters have a limited understanding of what issues matter to themselves they have some understanding of what makes their fellow voters tick.     

British Muslim Political Participation: After Bradford

In this article I argue that there is a significant generational shift within British Pakistani communities in relation to political participation and civic engagement. Using George Galloway's March 2012 by‐election victory in Bradford West and an analysis of primary empirical research conducted amongst British Pakistani communities between 2005–2007, and, 2011, I argue that kinship‐based bloc voting—a feature of British Pakistani political engagement in UK politics—is being challenged. A younger generation of British Pakistanis want politicians to engage with them as individuals rather than politicians assuming their votes through co‐opting Pakistani community elders in a system of patronage politics, an arrangement which has been in place since mass immigration from the subcontinent in the 1950s and 60s.     

Whitewashing Hitler: ‘Revisionist’ history‐distorters at work

In April 1983 Canadians were shocked to learn of a politically active school teacher in Alberta who taught his students an antisemitic view of history. The teacher was dismissed but he had expressed antisemitic views in the classroom for years.     

Repression and reaction: militant democracy and the radical right in Germany and France

The June 2004 elections offered the British National Party unique opportunities for growth. There were three different elections being held at once: for seats on local councils, for the London mayor and the London Assembly, and for members of the European parliament (MEPs). Following boundary changes, the local council election was being conducted on a three-candidates-per-seat basis. The London and European elections were being run according to the rules of proportional representation. Both systems favour minor parties. The BNP went into the elections buoyed up by almost four years of considerable success. However, the party failed to achieve the gains anticipated. After several years that witnessed increasing votes, this was the first instance of the BNP vote stagnating. Renton explains the BNP's failure in terms of a series of factors: poor leadership, tactical errors, the hardening of Conservative anti-BNP voters, the press publicity garnered by the UK Independence Party, and the successful intervention of anti-BNP campaigners.