二戰后,老牌資本主義國家英國由移民輸出國轉變為移民輸入國,面對形形色色的外來者,英國政府開始對差異群體的共同生活模式進行嘗試與探索。在20世紀70年代以前,英國對外來移民勞工采取打破整體性的分散同化政策。但是這種方法并沒有解決社會中差異群體帶來的種種矛盾與沖突,隨著城市騷亂的爆發以及緊隨其后的反種族主義社會運動的興起,以尊重差異、權利平等為核心的多元文化主義理念走入公共政策制定者的視野,并且也得到了民眾的廣泛接受。進入21世紀,新的族群沖突再次爆發。2011年,英國首相卡梅倫宣布業已執行30年的多元文化主義政策是個失敗。但是對于失敗的原因,卻鮮有提及。多元文化主義在英國經歷了怎樣的發展歷程?本文將嘗試分析多元文化主義政策在英國的具體落實過程與失敗原因。

After the Second World War,the UK,the typical capitalist power,has become an immigrating country from the emigrating one. In face of various immigrants, the British government began to explore a way of social cohesion among different ethnic groups. Before1970 s,an assimilation policy was adopted with the immigrant workers scattered. However,various contradictions and conflicts between different ethnic groups were not tackled. With the outbreak of race riots and the rise of anti-racist social movements,multiculturalism attracted the policy makers’ attention,which respects differences and regards the equality of rights as the core notion. It has been widely accepted in the public at that time. However,in the 21 st century,with a new outbreak of ethnic conflicts,multiculturalism,as a social policy,has been challenged. In 2011,David Cameron,the British Prime Minister,announced the failure of multiculturalism after its implementation for 30 years. The reason of its failure is seldom mentioned in China. This paper intends to analyze the process of multiculturalism implementation and outline its rise and fall in the UK.