What does 'mixed' mean in contemporary Britain Essay

What does 'mixed' mean in contemporary Britain - Essay Example When individuals become mixed in their identities and lifestyles, social (national) identity too by default become mixed. The prevailing practice of multiculturalism and the corresponding intersection of identities, based on race, nationality, ethnicity and sex, have led to the mixing of identities in the present day society in the United Kingdom. Mixedness is quite often wrongly attributed to the different heritage of individuals and communities. It is only partially true as mixedness is also the product of the contemporary society which actively mixes the identities of both individuals and communities which previously existed exclusive of each other. One could easily argue that mixedness is essentially a question of the present as it is constantly (re)produced in the present society. Mixedness happens in the present and strengthens itself through the present. For instance, when people marry persons from other communities, they actually (re)create mixedness. In other words, mixednes s is always in the making. Mixedness is not simply an ascribed status of people have hereditary status of coming from what is traditionally known as interracial mixed families. Mixedness could also be derived from the present in a vibrant multicultural society. Mixedness is constantly produced in the multiple avenues opened up by the practice of multiculturalism and an existing multiracial multicultural environment. Here, the identities are not constant and permanent. It exists in constant flux and always becoming fluid. Therefore, mixedness is not a marginal phenomenon occurs with some marginal mixed group. It is the general state of affairs of the contemporary British society. Mixedness is no more simply a question of the existence of a mixed race in the United Kingdom. The mixed groups are usually defined in terms of their commonalities, which are defined by shared inheritance, culture and beliefs. But, the idea of mixedness does not stick to mixed groups alone. Mixedness is the mainstream. In other words, the mainstream has gone mixed and it is increasingly being more mixed by a variety of social, economic and political forces. It characterises the mainstream society as everyone gets mixed in a multicultural society in one way or another. Many research studies, according to Song (2010), have proved that no mixed group in the United Kingdom is coherent both as a community and in lived-in experiences. Identity, Lifestyle and Representation The passage from modernity which was characterised by colonialism to postmodernity, defined in terms of postcolonialism has changed the outlook of British society forever. At present, â€Å"the demise of colonialism as an explicit political formation has given rise to understandings of postcoloniality and, perhaps ironically, an increased recognition of the role of colonialism in the formation of modernity† (Bhambra , 2007, p.878). In Bhambra’s scheme, the old British society was characterised by the ‘W hite malestream’ vis-a-vis the marginalised colonial subjects. The White British society existed as the product of modernity and was predominantly characterised by a homogenous White culture. But, the increased immigration from the postcolonial societies to the United Kingdom is altering the British social landscape in an unprecedented manner wherein the Whiteness did not exist as pure or as the founding culture of the British nation. The identities of British people are no more constructed against nationality, ethnicity, race or sexuality. The mixed identities of the British people are self constructed. And, it is possible to argue that the socially and culturally determined self construction of new mixed identities is induced by the