영국의 다문화성향은 ‘이민자들의 자유와 기회의 땅 미국’이란 캐치프레이즈로 통합될 수 있는 미국식 다문화성향과는 다르게 영국성립, 제국주의, 이민자 유입이라는 세가지 면의 복합성향이라 볼 수 있다. 특히 대영제국 정부가 문화말살정책 대신, 각 민족들의 문화를 인정하는 다문화주의 정책을 취하면서 대영제국의 문화를 최상위 문화로 자리매김 시키려는 고도의 문화정책적 전략ㆍ전술을 취했다는 점은 주목할 만하다. 그렇기 때문에 대영제국에는 영국 우월주의와 다문화주의가 섞일 수 있었다. 대영제국 해체 후, 영국 내 이민자들에 의해 형성된 다문화성향은 장점과 단점이 극명하게 대비되고 있다. 여러 인종들이 영국 사회 내에서 자신들의 문화를 충분히 내 보일 수 있는 장점이 있는가 하면, 영국의 제도적 인종주의나 이민족 혐오증에서 비롯된 분명한 단점들도 있다. 바로 이런 면들이 영국 사회에서 다문화주의 정책이 지속적으로 필요한 이유다. 이민정책에서 기인된 각종 법률과 인종평등위원회의 활동이 ‘차이’를 긍정적으로 받아들이려는 영국 다문화주의의 경향이다. 하지만 7.7 런던 테러 등 최근 사태들은 기존 다문화주의 경향을 ‘영국적 정체성과 문화다원성’을 동시에 추구하는 경향으로 바꾸어 놓았다. 본고는 이런 영국의 다문화사회 변화 실태를 다문화성향과 다문화주의 개념 구별을 통해 명확하게 드러내려 했다.

The catchphrase of the American multiculturality (defined by the author as ‘multicultural tendency’ is ‘the land of the free and the home of the brave’, which implies that America is full of opportunities for immigrants from any ethnic and cultural background. The British multiculturality, on the other hand, can be best understood if we consider three aspects ― the formation of the country (especially, the fact that it is the combination of four separate kingdoms), its imperial history, and the flood of immigration after the Second World War.Institutional Racism Imperial Britain employed policies which value cultural and ethnic diversities rather than dismiss them as inferior to her own. These policies were a strategic choice to develop her own culture even more to be one of the best in the world. As a result, these attitudes and policies enabled the optimal balance of the British superiority, assimilationsim, and multiculturalism. Since Britain has lost most of her colonies, she has experienced advantages as well as disadvantages of her multiculturality, which was the inevitable consequence of her imperial history. The British society as a whole enjoys rich heritage of cultural and ethnic diversities. However, the individuals within the society, especially the descendants of the immigrants, still suffer from racism and xenophobia. The British government is aware of the need to maintain and continually update its multicultural policies. For example, it has immigration laws which positively embrace the ‘differences’. Britain also has government bodies such as Commission for Racial Equality, whose job is to implement these multicultural policies. Through these, the British government tries to keep its balance between the British identity and multiculturalism. However, recent incidents such as the 7 July London bomb attacks by Islamic fundamentalists present some tough challenges to these efforts. This paper aims to show the realities of the multicultural United Kingdom through differentiating multiculturality from multiculturalism.

The catchphrase of the American multiculturality (defined by the author as ‘multicultural tendency’ is ‘the land of the free and the home of the brave’, which implies that America is full of opportunities for immigrants from any ethnic and cultural background. The British multiculturality, on the other hand, can be best understood if we consider three aspects ― the formation of the country (especially, the fact that it is the combination of four separate kingdoms), its imperial history, and the flood of immigration after the Second World War.Institutional Racism Imperial Britain employed policies which value cultural and ethnic diversities rather than dismiss them as inferior to her own. These policies were a strategic choice to develop her own culture even more to be one of the best in the world. As a result, these attitudes and policies enabled the optimal balance of the British superiority, assimilationsim, and multiculturalism. Since Britain has lost most of her colonies, she has experienced advantages as well as disadvantages of her multiculturality, which was the inevitable consequence of her imperial history. The British society as a whole enjoys rich heritage of cultural and ethnic diversities. However, the individuals within the society, especially the descendants of the immigrants, still suffer from racism and xenophobia. The British government is aware of the need to maintain and continually update its multicultural policies. For example, it has immigration laws which positively embrace the ‘differences’. Britain also has government bodies such as Commission for Racial Equality, whose job is to implement these multicultural policies. Through these, the British government tries to keep its balance between the British identity and multiculturalism. However, recent incidents such as the 7 July London bomb attacks by Islamic fundamentalists present some tough challenges to these efforts. This paper aims to show the realities of the multicultural United Kingdom through differentiating multiculturality from multiculturalism.

Multicultural Tendency, Multiculturalism, British Imperialism, Immigration Society,