The normality of plurality

Ludi Simpson, University of Manchester
Nissa Finney, University of Manchester

Growing ethnic diversity is a feature of developed countries, and will in time create 'plural cities' where no one group is a demographic majority. However, the exaggeration of Black and Asian population change is nowhere more enthusiastically expressed than in the prediction of minority White cities in the near future. This case study for the UK examines the persistence of myths of imminent plural cities, the complicity of authoritative organisations in their propagation, and the impact of those myths on political discourse related to integration, diversity and human rights. Accumulated evidence of population trends with an ethnic group dimension has allowed forecasts of future diversity. The established effects of demographic momentum, decreasing fertility and suburbanisation are in contrast to the uncertainty of international migration, the ambiguity of terms including ‘indigenous’, ‘native’ and ‘white’, and the varied purposes to which such forecasts are put.