The problematic of multinational and multicultural societies

Abstract

The study of multinationality and the study of the absorption of immigrant ethnic minorities in the British Isles have been dealt with academically in terms of two separate problematics. The first has been dealt with in terms of the theory of nationalism, the second in terms of migration and class. This article attempts to bring the two problematics together in terms of a master concept of empires and multinational states. Starting from this standpoint the nature of Welsh, Scottish and Irish nationality and nationalism in Britain are discussed in the first part of the essay and the structure of migration to the metropolis from post‐colonial societies in the second. While the article is based upon an analysis of the British case, however, it is suggested that this type of analysis can be extended to take account of other cases of multinationality and other types of international migration.