Stories From a Migrant City : Living and Working Together in the Shadow of Brexit

Nationalists and nativists often blame the figure of the immigrant ‘other’ for society’s ills, contrasting this with the ‘local’ or ‘native’ whose livelihood and way of life are seen as under threat from immigration. Being at ease with difference is seen as the worldview of a cosmopolitan elite. Stories from a migrant city argues for an urgent transformation of how such terms are understood and deployed. Drawing on eight years of research in an English provincial city and a biographical approach to oral history, this book challenges the ways in which people have come to be seen as ‘migrants’ or ‘locals’ and understood to have opposing interests. Non-elite cosmopolitanism is shown to be alive and well, in spite of racism, the legacies of empire and the devastating effects of four decades of neoliberalism. This book intervenes in the immigration debate, showing how moving away from a racialized local / migrant dichotomy can help to unite people on the basis of their common humanity. Drawing on over one hundred stories and eight years of research in a provincial English city, Rogaly asks what that city (and indeed England as a whole) stands for in the Brexit era. Stories from the city's homes and streets, and from its warehouse and food factory workplaces, challenge middle-class condescension towards working-class cultures. They also reveal a non-elite cosmopolitanism, which contrasts with the more familiar association of cosmopolitanism with elites. The book combines critique with resources for hope. It is aimed at general readers as well as students and lecturers in geography, sociology, migration studies and oral history. -- Provided by publisher Front matter Contents Preface Introduction: non-elite cosmopolitanism in the Brexit era ‘India’s my heart, and I know I’m an Indian’: histories of mobility and fixity ‘If not you, they can get ten different workers in your place’: racial capitalism and workplace resistance ‘We’re not just guardians of the area but of the whole city’: urban citizenship struggles and the racialised outsider ‘And then we just let our creativity take over’: cultural production in a provincial city Conclusion: the immigration debate and common anger in dangerous times Acknowledgements Bibliography Index Taking a biographical approach, the book explores the causes and consequences of moving or staying put in the context of class inequality and racisms, and looks for commonalities between people often seen as irredeemably divided. -- .