Leicester

Asian Leicester (Britain in Old Photographs)Organizing Jainism in India and England (Oxford Studies in Social & Cultural Anthropology)Negotiating Boundaries in the City: Migration, Ethnicity, and Gender in Britain (Studies in Migration and Diaspora)

Valerie Marett, Immigrants Settling in the City: Ugandan Asians in Leicester (1989)

  • This book surveys the expulsion of Asians from Uganda in 1972 and their subsequent reception and resettlement, with
  • particular reference to the city of Leicester. Initially, Leicester gained the reputation of being particularly unwelcoming
  • to the immigrants, because of its official policy of placing discouraging notices in the Ugandan press. The study shows
  • that Leicester was not alone in showing this initial response, and that these negative attitudes were subsequently
  • balanced by more positive measures in both statutory and voluntary sectors. The response of various Asian
  • organizations is described in detail and three aspects of the resettlement are discussed in depth: the response of the
  • education service, housing, and the part that Ugandan Asian women played in recreating family stability after their
  • forced migration.

  • G. Singh and J. Martin,  Asian Leicester - Britain in Old Photographs (2002)

  • Since the arrival of Ugandan Asians in 1972, Leicester has become the location of one of the most thriving Asian
  • communities in Britain. A history of Asians in Leicester and the city's transformation from a prosperous East Midlands
  • market town to the leading multicultural city in Europe. This title chronicles the lives of Asian settlers - their work,
  • leisure and housing as well as environmental impact, festivals, religious institutions and the arts. The experience of
  • ordinary members of the Asian community, such as barbers, industrial workers, teachers, women's groups and
  • shopkeepers as well as businessmen, broadcasters and doctors are recorded. This visual record will be of interest to
  • anyone interested in race, politics and local history.

  • Marcus Banks, Organizing Jainism in India and England (1992)

  • Although the Jains have a religious history spanning two-and -a-half millennia Western scholars have shown little
  • interest in them until recently. Drawing on fieldwork conducted among Jains in the Indian state of Gujarat and a
  • migrant Gujarati Jain group in Leicester, England, Marcus Banks aims to provide an understanding of contemporary
  • Jain identity through an examination of their social and religious organizations. The first part of the book describes the
  • array of religious and caste organizations found among Jains in the Indian city of Jamnagar and how Jains from
  • Jamnagar and elsewhere in Gujarat migrated to East Africa, transforming their organizations in the process. The
  • second part looks at the new forms of organization that have developed among the Jains who came to Leicester from
  • East Africa and the part these have played in changing perceptions of Jainism itself. Throughout the book Dr Banks
  • plays special attention to the use and transformation of urban space by religious and other groups, and he concludes
  • with comments on the definition of religion and religious identity. This is one of the first book-length studies of the
  • Jains as a migrant group overseas, where they are studied in their own right rather than simply as an ethnic minority.
  • It will be valuable both for its documentation of a small but influential population and for its direct comparison of
  • aspects of communal and religious organization in India and the UK.

  • Cynthia Brown, Wharf Street Revisited (1995)

  • The history of the Wharf Street area of Leicester, including oral histories, written memories and photographs
  • contributed by local people.

  • Colin Hyde, Smita Vadnerkar and Angela Cutting, Parampara: Continuing The Tradition - Thirty years of Indian dance and music in Leicester (1996)

  • For the early small groups of Indians who settled in Leicester in the 1950s and '60s, opportunities to take part in
  • traditional dance and music events were few. Thanks to the enthusiasm and initiative of individuals and organisations
  • within the community, Leicester has now become one of the leading centres for Indian dance and music in Britain.
  • This book tells the story of the last 30 years in their own words.

Joanna Herbert (2008) Negotiating Boundaries in the City: Migration, Ethnicity, and Gender in Britain. Ashgate: Studies in Migration and Diaspora series.
Using in-depth life-story interviews and oral history archives, the book explores the impact of South Asian migration from the 1950s onwards on both the local white, British-born population and the migrants themselves. Taking Leicester as a main case study – identified as a European model of multicultural success – the book shows how migration created challenges for both existing residents and newcomers – for both male and female migrants – and explores how they perceived and negotiated boundaries within the local contexts of their everyday lives. The stories provide valuable insights into the nature of white ethnicity, inter-ethnic relations and the gendered nature of experiences, and offer rich data lacking in existing theoretical accounts. This book provides a radically different story about multicultural Britain and reveals the nuances of modern urban experiences which are lost in prevailing discourses of multiculturalism. For more information please see the publisher’s website at: http://www.ashgate.com/default.aspx?page=637&calcTitle=1&title_id=8702&edition_id=9254

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