Are attitudes to immigration changing and does this matter?
This annual event is organised by City, National Centre for Social Research and the Social Research Association.
Speaker: Professor Robert Ford, University of Manchester
Stian Westlake, Executive Chair of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), will chair the lecture
Abstract
Immigration has been one of the defining political issues of recent decades. It raises fundamental questions: Who should be allowed to settle and on what terms? Is immigration an opportunity or a threat? How does the movement of millions across borders change our society and how should we manage the effects of this?
These are questions which deeply divide citizens and can reshape politics. But views on immigration are not fixed - they shift in response to both long run changes in the demographic landscape and shorter run shifts in the political conversation.
The long running social surveys which Roger Jowell played a central role in establishing and running - the British Social Attitudes survey, the British Election Study and the European Social Survey - are a vital tool for understanding the changes in attitudes to central issues like immigration and the deep forces shaping these changes.
In this lecture, I will make extensive use of these resources to explore three sets of questions, focussing mostly (though not only) on Britain.
Firstly, how have attitudes to immigration changed over the very long run and what accounts for this change? Immigration and the debates it provokes, has been part of British political and social life for generations. How does the landscape of opinion today compare with that of fifty or sixty years ago, during the first wave of post-war mass migration to Britain? What drives changes in immigration attitudes from one generation to the next and what are the consequences of these slow but relentless shifts?
Secondly, how have attitudes to immigration changed in the shorter run, from one election to the next, as governments and policies change? What role has immigration played in the political dramas of the past decade - the rise of UKIP, the EU referendum and the tumultuous post-Brexit elections? And what role, in turn, have political parties had on how immigration is seen, as successive governments have reworked Britain's relations with its neighbours and the policies governing who migrates here and on what terms?
Thirdly, I will consider the landscape of immigration attitudes today and what this may mean for the next general election and beyond? Why are the Conservatives focussing so much energy on a campaign to 'Stop the boats'? What political effects might this campaign and immigration attitude more broadly, have on the election expected in 2024? How might attitudes to immigration continue to change in years to come and what might the implications be for British society and politics?
About the speaker
Robert Ford is Professor of Political Science at the University of Manchester, Senior Fellow at the UK in a Changing Europe and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences.
Professor Ford has authored over 30 academic journal articles on a wide range of topics including immigration, national identity, racism and anti-racism and changing patterns of political choice.
He is the author of several award winning books including Revolt on the Right; Sex, Lies and the Ballot Box; Brexitland; and The British General Election of 2019.
Rob has worked with the BBC elections analysis team since 2005, covering local, devolved, European and general elections, the Scottish independence referendum and the EU referendum and helping to produce the exit polls for the last five elections.
A drinks reception will follow in the Pavilion.
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