History Extra Podcast: "A New History of Multicultural Britain"
Release Date: November 17, 2025
Guest: Dr. Kieran Connell, Reader of History at Queen’s University Belfast
Host: Matt Elton
Episode Overview
This episode delves into the complexities of Britain’s multicultural history, using Dr. Kieran Connell’s new book Multicultural Britain: A People’s History as a framework. Moving beyond government policy or iconic events like the Windrush arrival, Connell and host Matt Elton explore the lived realities, intimate connections, spatial histories, and political tensions that have shaped the multicultural fabric of modern Britain since World War II. The discussion prioritizes the everyday experiences of “ordinary people,” including interracial relationships, racism, and the evolution of diverse communities across British cities and towns.
Main Discussion Points & Insights
1. What Is Multiculturalism? Rethinking a Loaded Term
[03:12]
- Dr. Connell notes that "multiculturalism" is often misunderstood as an “-ism” akin to Marxism—seen by some as a rigid doctrine, which creates confusion about its actual meaning.
- The term is frequently conflated with discussions on immigration or educational policy, but Connell stresses its broader relevance:
“I want to move the conversation away from policies... Instead, focus on the actual experience of living in a society that... has become ever more ethnically diverse.”
— Kieran Connell [03:57] - He coins the term “actually existing multiculturalism” or “everyday multiculturalism” to emphasize daily social encounters, starting in inner-city areas and now spreading nationwide.
2. Origins and Contestation of Multiculturalism
[05:40]
- Multiculturalism as a term arrived from the United States in the 1970s, introduced by progressive local councils in reaction to acute discrimination.
- Policies included support for religious festivals or community exhibitions, aimed at helping minority groups celebrate their identities openly.
- These measures, however, quickly met resistance:
“There was a sense... if black and ethnic minority populations are gaining over there, that must mean that white groups must be losing over here.”
— Kieran Connell [06:56] - Connell advocates for a broader historical framework, noting the overlooked ethnic diversity within white British populations, exemplifying with his Irish and German heritage:
“One of the ways out... is to have a much more encompassing, inclusive conversation about what it means to be multicultural.”
— Kieran Connell [08:27]
3. Challenging the Windrush Narrative and Deeper Roots of Diversity
[08:31]
- While Connell regards the Windrush story (Caribbean migration, 1948) as crucial, he cautions against seeing it as the sole or even primary “year zero” for diversity in Britain:
“Ethnic diversity has been a long-standing presence in Britain going back all the way to the 19th century.”
— Kieran Connell [09:34] - Cardiff’s Tiger Bay in the 19th century is highlighted: a port city with longstanding communities of Jamaican, Arabic, African seamen and early mixed-race relationships amid significant social anxieties and racism.
“Some of the earliest mixed race relationships in Britain took place... Tiger Bay has this incredible history as this... vibrant, diverse place...”
— Kieran Connell [10:18] - The modern growth of mixed-race populations is viewed as an extension of these historical trends.
4. Intimacy, Everyday Relations & the Social Fabric
[12:31]
- Interracial and interethnic relationships, especially among working-class women and newly arrived men, were often the “front line” of Britain’s multicultural transformation.
“It was left to often largely working class communities to try and work out how to do that in quite a haphazard way.”
— Kieran Connell [13:25] - These were fraught, stigmatized, sometimes exploitative, but fundamentally transformative in remaking British society.
“I'm not talking about people with much in the way of power...these are people who are, you know, often in the absence of any constructive assistance from the government...”
— Kieran Connell [13:40] - The messy, uneven, sometimes fraught, but profoundly human process of negotiating difference is emphasized.
5. The Built Environment: Cafes, Pubs, and Everyday Integration
[15:15]
- Spatial context was vital: immigrants often settled in dilapidated areas of major cities, encountering both community and hostility.
- Social hubs for different groups (e.g., South Asian cafes, Irish pubs) were both refuges and sites for networking, job seeking, and cultural adaptation:
“The buildings, the kind of shops, the takeout joints, the restaurants, the cafes, they're all symbols of the extent to which Britain has become a multicultural landscape society.”
— Kieran Connell [15:33] - Naming establishments (e.g., “Cafe Kashmir”) signaled permanence and community defiance in the face of adversarial politics.
- Music, food, and informal support networks flourished in these spaces, even as legal discrimination (e.g., “No blacks, no dogs, no Irish” signs were legal until 1965) persisted.
6. Tensions and Riots: Nottingham 1958, Notting Hill & Lawmaking
[23:22]
- The 1948 British Nationality Act enabled mass migration, driven by post-war labor shortages; small but concentrated Caribbean populations in cities like Nottingham encountered major white backlash.
- The 1958 Nottingham and Notting Hill riots were sparked by racist animosity toward interracial couples, especially black men and white women.
“It was an incredibly scary time to be Black in 1958 in Nottingham.”
— Kieran Connell [24:35] - The riots prompted no meaningful government support for Black Britons but spurred restrictive immigration legislation (1962 Commonwealth Immigrants Act), explicitly carving out exceptions for white Irish migrants while targeting Black and Asian arrivals.
“The key distinction between Irish immigration and Caribbean or South Asian immigration is that the Irish are white.”
— Kieran Connell [28:58]
7. Patterns of Political Reaction and Persistent Crisis
[29:56]
- Successive governments—from Labour to Conservative—responded to far-right agitation not by confronting racism but by tightening immigration law or using hostile political rhetoric, with little effect in reducing extremist pressure.
“The lesson from history is that those extreme parties haven't gone away, they haven't gone anywhere... It's resulted in this shift of the boundaries of what’s seen as being acceptable language...”
— Kieran Connell [31:56] - The dialectical process of progressive inclusion and regressive backlash is a persistent pattern.
8. Photography and the Power of Visual Archives
[35:04]
- Connell recounts how finding Janet Mendelssohn’s 1960s photographs of Birmingham’s Borsall Heath shaped his research.
- Mendelssohn, an outsider and American, documented “intimate relationships and the complexities of actual multiculturalism,” including the story of Kathleen, a local white woman in a taboo relationship with an Asian man.
“Without her doing that, I never would have got access to the lives of these marginalised people and I wouldn't have been able to put them front and centre in the story of how Britain became multicultural.”
— Kieran Connell [38:42]
9. Moving Forwards: A Call for an Inclusive Conversation
[39:31]
- Connell urges a new, less toxic way of discussing multicultural Britain:
“I would love if readers came away from reading my book with the idea that actually, yeah, like, I actually have a relationship to multicultural Britain. I'm part of that story...no matter what your ethnicity is, and even whether or not you actually have immigration within your own family history...”
— Kieran Connell [40:07] - Ethnic diversity is only going to increase; efforts to “put it back in its box” are futile.
- Multiculturalism is described as pervasive and ordinary—from school playgrounds to hospitals to buses—and ripe for a reframed, “more grown-up way” of public discussion.
Memorable Quotes & Timestamps
- “I want to move the conversation...away from the question of policies and instead focus on the actual experience of living in a society that...has become ever more ethnically diverse.”
— Kieran Connell [03:57] - “There was a sense...if black and ethnic minority populations are gaining...white groups must be losing...almost from the moment these policies started to be introduced.”
— Kieran Connell [06:56] - “Windrush has become so much more well-known...but people sort of assume that the year zero for ethnic diversity began with the docking of that boat...that’s not true.”
— Kieran Connell [09:16] - “These are people who...in the absence of any constructive assistance from the government...were on the front line in this story of how Britain became multicultural.”
— Kieran Connell [13:40] - “The buildings, the kind of shops, the takeout joints, the restaurants, the cafes, they're all symbols of the extent to which Britain has become a multicultural landscape society.”
— Kieran Connell [15:33] - “It was an incredibly scary time to be Black in 1958 in Nottingham.”
— Kieran Connell [24:35] - “The key distinction between Irish immigration and Caribbean or South Asian immigration is that the Irish are white.”
— Kieran Connell [28:58] - “The lesson from history is that those extreme parties haven't gone away...it’s resulted in this shift of the boundaries of what's seen as being acceptable language...”
— Kieran Connell [31:56] - “Without her doing that, I never would have got access to the lives of these marginalised people and I wouldn't have been able to put them front and centre in the story of how Britain became multicultural.”
— Kieran Connell [38:42] - “I would love if readers came away from reading my book with the idea that...I'm part of that story of multicultural Britain. No matter what your ethnicity is...”
— Kieran Connell [40:07]
Segment Timestamps
- [03:12] – Defining multiculturalism and shifting focus from policy to lived experience
- [05:40] – Origins of “multiculturalism” as a policy and social contestation
- [08:31] – The Windrush myth and Britain’s earlier diversity (Cardiff’s Tiger Bay)
- [12:31] – Love, intimacy, and the ordinary people at the vanguard of change
- [15:15] – The built environment: how cafes, pubs, and restaurants shaped community
- [23:22] – Nottingham riots, Notting Hill, and the political response (1958–62)
- [29:56] – Persistent government strategies and the backlash dialectic
- [35:04] – Visual archives: Mendelssohn’s photographs and the unseen history
- [39:31] – Connell’s call for an inclusive, nuanced conversation about multiculturalism
Tone & Style
The episode maintains an accessible, conversational yet thoughtful tone. Through Connell’s vivid storytelling and personal reflections, it grounds large political and historical ideas in real human experiences and encourages listeners to see themselves within Britain’s diverse social tapestry.
Conclusion
Dr. Kieran Connell’s interview disrupts the usual focus on policy and state narratives, instead celebrating and scrutinizing the “ordinary” human stories at the heart of multicultural Britain’s formation. He calls for a wider, more inclusive conversation about what multiculturalism means—one anchored in recognition of shared histories and everyday realities, where everyone living in Britain is part of that story, regardless of background.
Recommended for:
- Anyone interested in the social history of Britain
- Those wishing for a nuanced understanding of contemporary debates about multiculturalism
- Listeners seeking personal, ground-level stories of historical change
Dr. Kieran Connell’s book, Multicultural: A People's History, is shortlisted for the 2025 Wolfson History Prize.