Espace et échanges : immigration in London

Spaces and exchanges

I’m going to talk about the notion of spaces and exchanges. But, first, let me give you a quick definition of that notion: a space is a geographic, virtual or symbolic place occupied by different societies. An exchange is an interaction between the societies or the men and women that they are composed of. In relation to the notion of spaces and exchanges, the subjects to my presentation will be the immigration in London and the social network.

I) How immigration made London a multicultural city?

1. Evolution of immigration in London:

Britain has always been a land of exchanges and individual liberty. Several waves of immigrations have populated London. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Irish, the French Protestants and the Flemish came to London because of religious persecutions. In the next centuries arrived the Afro Caribbeans, some Asians, the Jews from Eastern Europe and finally, the Polish and also several populations from the former British Empire like Pakistanis, Indians, and Jamaicans, who were considered British citizen. So clearly, London has hosted many different kinds of immigrants throughout its History.

B) A multicultural capital city:

All of those newcomers settled down in the East End, an area located in the east of London. There, the immigrants have come and gone and created a mix of cultures and languages. For example, in the 20th century emerged Multicultural London English. Moreover, London is divided into 33 boroughs and in each borough is spoken a main foreign language. For example Brixton market is the center of the Afro-Caribbean community and you can find Chinatown next to Leicester Square. We can also notice the mix of cultures with all the different kind of restaurants that you can find in London. For example there are many places where you can eat Indian or Pakistani food. This shows us the multiplicity of cultures in London thanks to the exchange that is immigration.

1. Limits of the exchange:

Nowadays, we have come to the limits of the exchange. The Londoners and the British in general do not tolerate any more immigration, which led to an invasive Polish population in London for example or to the Calais migrant crisis. There, about 3 thousand migrants lived in poor conditions hoping that they could get to the UK and mostly to London, until they were dispersed in 2015. That’s also why  the British voted the Brexit, in 2016.  

To conclude we can say that immigration in London has evolved since the 16th century and nowadays London still attracts many immigrants as a refuge and unfortunately it creates tensions. However, UK's capital is one of the world’s most multicultural cities and attracts workers and cultural events as well, such as the Olympic games and in both cases we can say that they are global exchanges and that's why we can confirm that London’s different types of immigrations belong to the notion of spaces and exchanges.

II) The best and worst of social networks

1. The best

They are different platforms or websites such as Facebook, Instagram or Tweeter, where people can create personal profiles, share pictures, videos, and text updates to their friends, family and people from all over the world. We are able to rekindle old friendships, share family photos, special events, we can even find love. To illustrate my purpose I will give the example of flash mob. A flash mob is a group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual and seeming pointless act for a brief time, and then quickly disperse often for the purposes of entertainment, satire, and artistic expression. Flash mob are organized via social media. I chose two examples. The first one really delivers a message of hope and support to the Hadassah Hospital. It’s a celebration where 370,000 citizens volunteered in an array of projects nationwide for the benefit of others. 40 musicians played Tchaikovsky's Waltz of the Flowers from the Nutcracker to the delight of patients, guests and staff of the hospital in Jerusalem. With Tchaikovsky's beautiful music in the background, a ballet dancer took to the hospital's hall and amazed the surprised crowd with an elegant dance.

But flash mob usually consist of much more performers, so my second example is the “black eyed peas flash mob”, one of the most famous flash mob existing. In 2009, during The Oprah Show's 24th season kickoff party in Chicago, the most famous and well known talk show that ever appeared in the United States. The company’s staff and more than 20,000 people pulled off a massive surprise for an unsuspecting Oprah. The dancing starts out with one enthusiastic girl in the front row and works its way to the back of the crowd until everyone is dancing to a choreographed piece to the Black Eyed Peas, which were invited to the show because of their famous clip I got a feeling. The interaction between the Black Eyed Peas and the crowd is what made the flash mob so extraordinary.

There hundreds of flash mob, even maybe more viewed such as the one in a prison to pay tribute to Michel Jackson with more than 25 million of view on the video posted on YouTube.

1. The worst

But we can also consider that the Social networks give people too much power. Social media can give a way to unify angry crowds. I think that one of the biggest problems with the social media craze is that people are becoming more and more addicted to using it. Social networking can also ruin relationships as people may get jealous if they find out their boyfriend or girlfriend is exchanging messages with other people. Cyber Bullying is also a growing problem.

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