See also:

Small Grants
Networks and Workshops

Large Grants

Dr Laurence Brown
Dr Joya Chatterjee
Professor Philip Crang
Professor Andrew Dewdney
Dr Hella Eckardt
Dr Katy Gardner
Professor Marie Gillespie
Professor Anthony Good
Professor Caroline Humphrey
Professor Russell King
Professor Ulrike Meinhof
Professor Ruth Pearson
Dr James Procter
Professor Rosemary Sales
Professor Pnina Werbner

 

Mapping migrant cultures in Manchester 1880-2000
Dr Laurence Brown

The Bengal diaspora; Bengali settlers in South Asia and Britain: a comparative and interdisciplinary study
Dr Joya Chatterjee
Co-Investigator: Dr Claire Alexander

Fashioning diaspora space: textiles, patterns and cultural exchange between Britain and South Asia 1850s-80s, 1980s-2000s
Professor Philip Crang
Co-Investigators: Professor Felix Driver, Professor Chris Breward, Ms Rosemary Crill

Tate encounters: Black and Asian identities, Britishness and visual culture
Professor Andrew Dewdney
Co-Investigators: Dr Mike Phillips, Dr Victoria Walsh, Professor Harry Goulbourne, Dr David Dibosa

A LONG WAY FROM HOME - DIASPORA COMMUNITIES IN ROMAN BRITAIN
Dr Hella Eckardt
Co-Investigators: Dr Mary Lewis, Dr Gundula Mueldner

FINDINGS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

• This project explores the cultural and biological experience of immigrant communities in Roman Britain.  Using a range of scientific techniques, possible migrants have been identified in the burial record of Roman Britain.  Evidence for diaspora communities was analysed through an innovative combination of material culture, skeletal and isotope research.  Several sites were used for this study. Osteological/forensic methods  were used to assess ancestry based on skeletal traits, and isotope analysis was used to assess geographic origins (oxygen & strontium) and diet (carbon & nitrogen). Further osteological work focused on the health of the populations examined. Results showed that up to 30% of individuals sampled can be classed as non-local, with a smaller proportion coming from outside the UK. Contrary to popular perceptions, there are women and children amongst these migrants. There are also examples where grave goods  may relate to an individual's origin.  While possible immigrants and locals in many cases consumed similar foods, this work has identified cases where migrants can be identified through the consumption or rejection of certain foods (in particular fish).  The project brought together specialists working in the areas of Roman archaeology and theory, osteology and isotopes.

• Popular perceptions of the Roman Empire are still characterised by simplistic ideas about 'The Romans', who are often equated with Italians despite the fact that epigraphic and historical evidence has long shown that the majority of 'Romans' coming to Britain would have originated in Gaul, Spain, Germany and the Danube, as well as from the Mediterranean (e.g. Birley 1979).  While isotope analysis cannot conclusively pinpoint an individual's origin, it can be used to exclude a UK origin, and, combined with other evidence, can suggest possible places of origin.
  
  
• An extended study of nearly 300 York skeletons (of which 50 were sampled for isotopes) identified North African and other immigrants, Isotopic analysis of 16 skeletons from Catterick includes the famous 'eunuch' to discuss the relationships between origin, gender and religious beliefs. This individual may be identified as an immigrant isotopically. At Gloucester analysis demonstrated that immigrants and locals were buried together in a mass burial pit. At Lankhills analysis identified immigrants from areas both cooler and warmer than Britain. On all sites, our analysis identified individuals (up to 30% of the sample, and including women and children) who appear to be non-local.

• A full osteological assessment of 385 children from Poundbury Camp identified the first archaeological case of Thalassaemia, a genetic condition causing anaemia particularly prevalent amongst Mediterranean populations.  Levels of childhood disease and malnutrition were unusually high Carbon and nitrogen analysis was used  to investigate whether fish, which is conspicuously absent from British Iron Age assemblages, was used by migrants to distinguish themselves from local populations. Results showed no consistent link between origins and diet but several high status migrants had a diet rich in fish and/or rich in C4 plants (e.g. millet and sorghum, which were not cultivated in Roman Britain). These strong C4-dietary signatures can be used as an additional tool to identify migrants to the British provinces.
  
  
• This project employed a unique combination of archaeological science and diaspora theory to gain a new perspective on multi-cultural Britain under Rome, which is communicated to the wider public through an innovative outreach programme

• In addition to academic outputs, the project challenged popular assumptions of an essentially homogenous Romano-British population by examining the diversity of cultural identities in this remote province.  Comparisons were made of the epigraphic evidence for Africans in Roman Britain with the distribution of artefacts depicting Africans. It is argued that the latter reflect the symbolic consumption of the exotic

• An active outreach programme to communicate this interpretation of multi-cultural Roman Britain to the wider public, centring around a collaboration with children's author Caroline Lawrence, author of the 'Roman Mysteries' series.  Using information learned through the project, she has written three short stories aimed at children at Key Stage 2, and the Yorkshire Museum will use these short pieces as part of their educational programme

• The case of the rich (possibly North African) female from York lends itself to further outreach work. She was buried in a stone coffin, with imported and local goods, including jet and ivory bracelets; there was also an openwork bone mount (possibly for a wooden box) inscribed with a Christian dedication. The isotopic analysis suggests that she came from an area warmer than the UK, and the ancestry assessment identified a mixture of 'white' and black' traits

• The Roman gallery at the Yorkshire Museum is being redeveloped, and, the new gallery on 'The people of Roman York' will feature the 'ivory bangle lady' as one of the key exhibits. Both reconstruction drawings produced by Aaron Watson (the second depicts a multi-cultural market scene) will also be used in the gallery  Some of the results from the project may be featured in a TV programme about Roman York
  
  
• The academic importance of this project can be evaluated for three interrelated areas: isotope studies, multi-disciplinary approaches in archaeological science and the study of Roman Britain, in particular in relation to theories of identity and 'Romanisation'.  Isotope analysis is a relatively new area of research. This project has sampled 150 individuals, hugely increasing the available dataset and helping to define the UK range for oxygen and strontium.

• A particular strength of the project was the combination of various scientific approaches to the question of migration and identity.  Another important finding is the identification of female and child migrants in Roman Britain.  Diet is an important aspect of identity, and diaspora research has shown that immigrants often employ foodways as a means of maintaining and expressing their identity. The project has shown that dietary isotopes (C4, to a lesser extent fish consumption) can act as an indicator of immigrant individuals.
  
  
• The project has made an important contribution to current theoretical debates about identity and 'Romanisation'. Recent work has broken down simplistic assumptions about 'Romans' and 'natives', but with inscriptions rare in Roman Britain, it has been difficult to identify migrants, and to test whether origin is reflected in burial rite. 
  

• A number of workshops have been held in connection with the project, as well as many presentations at national and international conferences. A large number of journal articles and edited books have emanated from the project as well as a segment in BBC1's The One Show and extensive newspaper coverage

 

Home and away: experiences and representations of transnational south Asian children
Dr Katy Gardner

Tuning in: diasporic contact zones at the BBC World Service
Professor Marie Gillespie
Co-Investigators: Professor Annabelle Sreberny, Dr Jason Toynbee, Professor Kath Woodward

THE CONVERSION OF ASYLUM APPLICANTS’ NARRATIVES INTO LEGAL DISCOURSES IN THE UK AND FRANCE: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF PROBLEMS OF CULTURAL TRANSLATION
Professor Anthony Good
Co-Investigator: Dr Robert Gibb

FINDINGS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

• The processing of asylum claims is a major administrative and legal undertaking in France and the UK, but many asylum applicants face problems in securing qualified legal representation. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) play a vital role in both countries by providing asylum applicants with free legal advice. Although surveys of legal provision in EU countries have recently been carried out by legal and human rights organisations, these focused only on formal organisational structures and their legal and administrative frameworks, without comparing in detail the practicalities of providing legal advice in different European countries.  The project therefore studied the processes - and problems - of cultural translation involved in the conversion of asylum applicants' accounts of persecution into legal language by lawyers (usually aided by interpreters). Its two principal objectives were: (1) to document, assess and compare the practical activities of NGOs in each country, focusing on their roles in preparing statements and presenting cases on behalf of their clients; and (2) to analyse the wider structural contexts in both countries, through examining: the impact of recent legislation; the relationship between NGOs and the state; and inter-NGO cooperation in lobbying, information-sharing, and efforts to develop common policy objectives

• The project has been innovative in using ethnographic methods (participant observation and semi-structured interviews, combined with archival research) to investigate processes - and problems - of cultural translation in the legal recording and representation of asylum claims; on the other, as well as extending the US-derived 'new legal pluralism' perspective to the study of European immigration and asylum systems. The project will be of value to research communities in the above areas, secondly, because it is the first empirically-based comparative research on the practicalities (as opposed to the formal organisational structures or legal frameworks) of providing legal advice to asylum applicants in the UK and France

• The research conducted will further the analysis of issues of linguistic and cultural translation arising in contexts of migration and asylum; throw new light on problems of representation and discourse in relation to asylum applicants and refugees; and contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between legal and ordinary language conventions, and of processes of legal change more generally. It has been recognised as having the potential to open up a new field of study within legal anthropology

• The core of the research was a participant-observation study of the activities of selected NGOs in each country, through working as an intern and/or shadowing key staff members.  Semi-structured interviews were conducted with key staff in selected NGOs, and with other key actors in the asylum process, such as solicitors, barristers, interpreters, Immigration Judges in the UK and their French equivalents. Further information was obtained through analysis of documentary data held in legal archives in both countries. Key stakeholders from both countries were brought together at a workshop where they shared information and experiences

• The research will contribute to fairer decision-making on asylum claims in France and the UK; assist the two national NGO communities in developing best practice; inform continuing UK and French debates on the effects of recent and pending asylum legislation and legal aid provision. It will also further the analysis of issues of linguistic and cultural translation arising in contexts of migration and asylum; throw new light on problems of representation and discourse relating to asylum applicants and refugees; and contribute to better understanding of the relationship between legal and ordinary language conventions, and processes of legal change more generally

• The primary achievement of the research was to compare the processes of cultural translation and interpretation involved in the recording and re-presentation of asylum applicants' narratives of persecution by a range of key actors in the UK and France.  The research focused on how asylum applicants' narratives of persecution are structured into legally-acceptable forms of discourse by solicitors, barristers and other legal representatives (such as NGO staff), and the ways in which case officers elicit and record claims during official asylum interviews and examine statements submitted at the appeals stage have also been studied and compared. In addition, the research has explored the important role interpreters can play as 'cultural' (and not simply linguistic) interpreters in official asylum interviews, in interviews between legal representatives and their clients, and at appeals court hearings. The quality and the quantity of relevant empirical material collected has enabled the researchers to undertake a detailed and systematic comparison of the conversion of asylum applicants' narratives into legal discourses by different actors within each country and between the UK and France more generally

• The research has highlighted the range of contexts in which asylum applicants' narratives of persecution are elicited (orally or in writing) and recorded : screening interviews with case officers; written applications for asylum; substantive asylum interviews with case officers; medico-legal examinations; cross-examinations in asylum appeals hearings. The research has compared how case officers and legal representatives in the two countries record and analyse them

• A secondary set of achievements, grounded in more general observation of the work of legal and paralegal staff, as well as interviews and archival research, has been the documentation, assessement and comparison of the practical activities of the selected NGOs in the two countries. The research has highlighted, among other points, important differences between the NGOs concerned in their composition and organisation and in their relationship to the state, as well as the differential impact of recent legislative changes on their activities and modes of operation

• An important additional achievement has been to contribute, through the organisation of a workshop and by other formal and informal exchanges over the course of the research (and which are ongoing), to the process of ensuring fair and consistent decision-making on asylum claims in France and the UK by facilitating contact between key practitioners from both countries, thereby encouraging the sharing of issues and the development of best practice

• The project’s specific focus on asylum applicants' narratives of persecution, and how these are translated into legal discourses informed by particular values and orientations, has already resulted in the project attracting considerable interest on the part of other researchers working in the above areas not only in the UK and France but also in other European countries, and this is likely to increase with the further dissemination and publication of its results. The project will make an important contribution to advancing creativity, knowledge and understanding in the area of asylum law in Europe by virtue of its scope, and the quality and quantity of empirical data collected. The project has compared the ways in which asylum applicants' narratives of persecution are translated, represented and examined by a range of different institutional and non-institutional actors in the UK and France. This has made possible a more holistic perspective and a 'studying through' of policy processes from their origins to their effects on different actors, characteristics which further increase the potential importance of the project

• A generic expert report has been prepared by Anthony Good on asylum issues concerning Sri Lanka, to help redress a perceived dearth of accurate information available in France. This report is now in wide circulation among French lawyers. He has also prepared a report on human rights abuses in Sri Lanka, as part of a submission to the EU.  He has been invited to join the Project Advisory Board for two asylum-related research projects

• The ‘stake-holder’ workshop (‘France/UK Workshop on Asylum Procedures’, 30-31 March 2009) organised at the end of the funding period provided a further opportunity for French and UK practitioners to exchange information and reflect critically (and comparatively) on their own professional activities with a view to the development of 'best practice'. The workshop also led to the establishment of new contacts and networks between French and UK practitioners, an outcome that was regarded as particularly significant by those present
  

Black Sea currents: migration and cosmopolitan dynamics in two post-Imperial cities, Odessa and Istanbul
Professor Caroline Humphrey
Co-Investigators: Dr Yael Navaro-Yashin

Cultural geographies of counter-diasporic migration: the second generation returns "home"
Professor Russell King
Co-Investigator: Professor Ivor Goodson

Diaspora as social and cultural practice: a study of transnational networks across Europe and America
Professor Ulrike Meinhof
Co-investigator: Dr Nadia Kiwan

Subverting stereotypes: Asian women's political activism - a comparison of the Grunwick and Gate Gourmet strikes
Professor Ruth Pearson
Co-Investigator: Professor Linda McDowell

Devolving diaporas: migration and reception in Central Scotland, 1980-present
Dr James Procter
Co-Investigators: Dr Gemma Robinson, Dr Bethan Benwell, Dr Jackie Kay

CITYSCAPES OF DIASPORA: IMAGES AND REALITIES OF LONDON’S CHINATOWN
Professor Rosemary Sales
Co-Investigator: Dr Panos Hatziprokopiou

FINDINGS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

• The research project explored diaspora through a detailed case study of London's Chinatown. It investigated the role and meaning of Chinatown in the lives of Chinese people in London and the different -sometimes conflicting - interests and activities involved within this space. The research has shed new light on the experiences of this diverse population and their relations to each other and to Chinese populations elsewhere. The London case study demonstrates Chinatown's continuing practical importance and symbolic role in relation to identity, belonging and sense of being 'at home'.

• Chinatowns have been crucial in the construction of 'Chinese diasporas'. They are the visible 'public face' of the population and 'private' community spaces, embodying both connection with other Chinese people and distinction from others. Chinatowns also reflect changing relations between Chinese populations and 'host' societies and for example policies on multiculturalism and immigration control. London's Chinatown, once seen as 'risky', is now an established feature of multicultural London. The project contributes to critical understanding of the complexity of diaspora. Many contemporary Chinese migrants experience not merely separation between a Chinese 'homeland' and their place of abode but also from their place of birth and have connections in many parts of the world. Chinatown was crucial to the construction of home for our participants, to their identity, and to affirming their sense of being Chinese.  The research thus demonstrates the importance and complex meanings of space in relation to the diaspora.

• The research used a combination of methods: ethnographic observation, street surveys and questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with 30 representatives of Chinese organisations and other stakeholders; and 50 individuals with varied migrant backgrounds, statuses and personal characteristics. These explored Chinatown's importance in participants' daily lives and their sense of identity and belonging.  

•  The results affirmed Chinatown's importance for London's Chinese population, especially newcomers for whom it provides practical support, information and formal and informal networks. Even those who rarely use Chinatown saw it as important, creating a sense of belonging and being 'at home'. The different interests and activities centred there may be conflicting but also complementary. Its role as a tourist destination, for example, may drive out community orientated activities but also bring resources for regeneration and the maintenance of its Chinese character. The research highlighted the importance of Chinatown as a community space and its practical and symbolic importance as well as the dependence of many on a Chinese environment and their exclusion from mainstream society through lack of language skills and information as well as discrimination.

• The narratives of participants underlined ambiguities in the notion of diaspora. Their varied regional origin, complex migratory journeys and motives for migration and different levels of settlement in Britain complicate the notion of scattering from a common homeland implied by some definitions of diaspora. For some participants, 'home' and 'abroad' were not fixed geographical points as home could be recreated in different places. Most participants made strong distinctions between themselves as Chinese and others and the 'Chinese environment' reproduced in Chinatown, rather than attachment to China itself, was fundamental to this distinction. The constructed unified 'Chineseness' represented in Chinatown also hid differences based on class, legal status, region of origin and so on.

• The recent involvement of the Chinese state underlies the importance of the political in relation to diaspora. Chinatown provides a focus for political and economic links between Britain and China and community organisations based there are increasingly tied to China. Many participants took pride in the rising power of the 'motherland' and felt it increased their status in Britain. This development also threatens Chinatown's role in uniting different groups of Chinese people. When 'being Chinese' involves loyalty to a particular state it excludes those who do not wish to claim loyalty or who are deemed unacceptable.

• The research also revealed the fragility of Chinatown's acceptance in London. The Home Office raids in 2007 on the undocumented workers who are vital to its economic success raised the spectre of Chinatown as dangerous and uncontrolled. Chinatown still carries the weight of orientalist stereotypes of suspicion towards the Chinese 'other'.

• The project produced a range of outputs for academic and community audiences. These include a project launch for community organisations and service providers and an academic seminar; an extended working paper and summary report; maps showing Chinatown's relation to the Chinese population; and conference papers, book chapters and articles. A web site detailing these activities is being developed and will be updated as further outputs are produced. Links forged through this research will lead to further research on the needs of Chinese people (with Haringey Chinese Community Association). Members of the research team plan further projects in furtherance of this research, including PhD study and a project on the needs of the Chinese elderly. Professor Sales was invited to be a consultant for a research proposal on skilled Chinese migration.

• The research has been presented by members of the research team at national and international conferences including:  Copenhagen (Association for Social Economics); Surrey (DMI/CRONEM); Birmingham (Social Policy Association); Goldsmiths, London (Race in the Modern World); Queen Mary College, London (Diaspora and the City); Milan (new immigration), Sydney (Branded Cities); and Singapore (Networked regionalism).

 

In the footsteps of Jesus and the Prophet: sociality, caring and the religious imagination in the Filipino diaspora
Professor Pnina Werbner
Co-investigator: Dr Mark Johnson

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