英國在二戰后逐漸成為移民輸入國,族群迥異又要共聚共生,問題切要、挑戰叢生,英國為此不斷地探索和調整移民政策。英國在歐洲較早實施了多元文化主義政策,但經過幾十年的嘗試,該政策卻被官方界定為是"失敗的",轉而調整為共同體凝聚的新政策。為何多元文化主義這樣一個曾經炙手可熱的政策在英國政策制定者眼中已成明日黃花?為何政府力推新政策?個中原委引人深思。本文著重探究共同體凝聚政策形成的背景、政策提出的來龍去脈、其內容特點以及政界和學界對它的批評和質疑等問題,以期勾勒出共同體凝聚政策發展的整體輪廓。

Since the end of World War II, Britain has gradually become an immigration country with a host of immigrants coming from abroad. How to make different ethnic(or immigrant) groups coexist in harmony is a big and urgent challenge to the British government, which has continuously explored and adjusted its re-settlement policy for this purpose. Britain had been among the earliest countries in Europe that adopted a multiculturalism policy, but after decades of practice, the policy was officially defined as a "failure". In its place, the policy for community cohesion has been adopted. Why has this multiculturalism policy that used to be so popular been discarded by the British policymakers? This question calls for our deep reflection. This article dwells on the background of the policy for community cohesion, the ins and outs of its formulation, its main content and features, as well as political and academic debate around it, intending to roughly outline the development of this new policy.