There is an alleged crisis of cohesion in the UK, manifested in debates about identity and ‘Britishness’; the breakdown of social connections along the fault lines of geography, ethnicity, faith, income, and age; and the fragile relationship between citizen and state. This book examines how these new dimensions of diversity and difference, so often debated in the national context, are emerging at the neighbourhood level. Contributors from a range of disciplinary backgrounds critically assess, and go beyond the limits of, contemporary policy discourses on ‘community cohesion’ to explore the dyn ... More

There is an alleged crisis of cohesion in the UK, manifested in debates about identity and ‘Britishness’; the breakdown of social connections along the fault lines of geography, ethnicity, faith, income, and age; and the fragile relationship between citizen and state. This book examines how these new dimensions of diversity and difference, so often debated in the national context, are emerging at the neighbourhood level. Contributors from a range of disciplinary backgrounds critically assess, and go beyond the limits of, contemporary policy discourses on ‘community cohesion’ to explore the dynamics of diversity and cohesion within neighbourhoods and to identify new dimensions of disconnection between and within neighbourhoods. The chapters provide theoretically informed critiques of the policy responses of public, private, voluntary, and community organisations and present new empirical research evidence about the dynamics of cohesion in UK neighbourhoods. Topics covered include new immigration, religion and social capital, faith schools, labour- and housing-market disconnections, neighbourhood territoriality, information technology and neighbourhood construction, and gated communities.