UK and London regional informationLondonEngland Northern Ireland Scotland Cymru/Wales Black and Asian British General UK Ancient Sites Welcome to London and the UK. Find out here about the setting for Worldwork 2008 in London and the UK. We have listed some background information and links about the history of the Islands and how identities have formed. The words we choose have political implications and may bring up strong reactions, in others and also in ourselves as we look more deeply and recognise our history, the dreaming in the Islands and its political legacy. There is a rich diversity in these islands and we hope to bring awareness to at least some of this here. The official name of this country is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, usually shortened to ‘the UK’, though it would probably be true to say that most residents of these islands do not readily identify with this whole long title - and some with none of it! Disputes and dilemmas about the names that are used, and even what lands are included, are part of the political history of these Islands. Great Britain is another term commonly used; it describes the lands of England, Scotland and Wales, and includes a number of smaller islands particularly to the north and west of Scotland. Northern Ireland occupies the north of the island of Ireland (Eire in Irish). To the South and North West in Ireland is the Republic of Ireland (also called Ireland and Eire). Together, Great Britain, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Isles make up a Common Travel Area within which its citizens can travel freely. Geographically they form an archipelago, for which the term used on maps is the British Isles, but this implies a primacy of British identity, and marginalises the island of Ireland. In recent agreements between the two governments e.g. the Good Friday agreement concerning the Northern Ireland Peace Process the more inclusive term ‘these islands’ has been used. The Isle of Man and the Channel Isles have their own governments, but by agreement are represented internationally by the government of the UK. People who have the nationality of the UK are called ‘British’, but here again individuals may identify more or less or not at all with this term. Many people would more readily say they are, for instance, English or Welsh or British Asian, or increasingly, European. We wondered, writing this introduction – what are these identities? There doesn’t seem to be any irreducible minimum or consensus about them but they clearly have meaning for people so maybe they are what process work calls dreaming. So there is for instance English dreaming and Welsh dreaming – worlds of images, impressions, feelings and beliefs, which differ from person to person but which have some shared threads. The word ‘British’ is used in a myriad of ways and is often misused. A common assumption, implicit in some uses, makes ‘British’ almost a synonym for ‘English’, as for instance in the BBC which stands for British Broadcasting Corporation. There is a BBC Wales a BBC Scotland and a BBC NI but no BBC England. It’s just ‘the BBC’. Thus the use of the term ‘British’ can be exclusive or inclusive, depending on context. For more information on the language issues of these islands
see: There follows lots of information for you to explore, be curious
about, challenged by and dialogue with! It is necessarily incomplete
and we welcome your input so if you have anything to add please
let us know. LondonLondon is the capital of the United Kingdom and of England; it is the largest city in the European Union and is one of the major global cities. First established around 2000 years ago it is now one of the world's leading business, financial and cultural centres. It has a population of about 7.5 million and includes a wide range of cultures, religions and peoples who speak over 300 different languages. Article about History of London (hyperlink to London History) General and history websites: Multicultural London: Books: http://www.fictionalcities.co.uk/london.htm England
General and history websites: Famous English people: Books: Watching the English: The hidden rules of English behaviour by Kate Fox a revealing look at the quirks, habits and foibles of the English. She puts the English national character under her anthropological microscope, and finds a strange and fascinating culture, governed by complex sets of unspoken rules and Byzantine codes of behaviour. Detailed observation of the way we talk, dress, eat, drink, work, play, shop, drive, flirt, fight, queue – and moan about it all! The English: A Portrait of a People by Jeremy Paxman what is it about the English? Not the British overall, not the Scots, not the Irish or Welsh, but the English. Why do they seem so unsure of who they are? As Jeremy Paxman remarks in his preface to The English, being English "used to be so easy". Now, with the Empire gone, with Wales and Scotland moving into more independent postures, with the troubling spectre of a united Europe the English seem to have entered a collective crisis of national identity. Films: List of other interesting films: Northern Ireland
General and history websites: Famous Northern Irish people: Books: Personal Accounts from Northern Ireland's Troubles: Public Conflict, Private Loss by Marie Smyth and Marie-Therese Fay (2000) Northern Ireland: A Very Short Introduction by Marc Mulholland (2003) Films: ScotlandGeneral and history websites: Famous Scottish people: Books: Highland Clearances by John Prebble a moving account of an important piece of Scottish history Films: Ae Fond Kiss (2004), Dir. Ken Loach: In Glasgow, Scotland, the Pakistani parents of Kasim Khan have decided that he is going to marry his cousin Jasmine. Unfortunately, Kasim has just fallen in love with his younger sister's music teacher Roisin. Not only is she 'goree', a white woman, she is also Irish and Catholic, things that may not go down well with Kasim's parents. They start a relationship but Kasim is torn between following his heart and being a good son. Review from www.amazon.co.uk List of other films: Cymru/Wales
General and history websites: http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/history/sites/language/ http://users.comlab.ox.ac.uk/geraint.jones/about.welsh/ Famous Welsh people: Books: A History of Wales by John Davies: Originally published in Welsh as Hanes Cymru, this book traces the history of Wales stretching from the Ice Ages to the present day; this masterful account traces the political, social and cultural history of the land that has come to be called Wales. The Mabinogion (Oxford World's Classics) by Sioned Davies: Celtic mythology, Arthurian romance, and an intriguing interpretation of British history - these are just some of the themes embraced by the anonymous authors of the eleven tales that make up the Welsh medieval masterpiece known as the Mabinogion. They tell of Gwydion the shape-shifter, who can create a woman out of flowers; of Math the magician whose feet must lie in the lap of a virgin; of hanging a pregnant mouse and hunting a magical boar. Dragons, witches, and giants live alongside kings and heroes, and quests of honour, revenge, and love are set against the backdrop of a country struggling to retain its independence. Films: A Way Of Life Dir. Amma Asante a powerful, controversial portrait of contemporary South Wales. A Way of Life tells the story of Leigh-Anne, a 17-year-old single mother living in a South Wales coastal city who is drawn into a racist attack on a Turkish neighbour.
Books: Black and Asian Britishhttp://www.blackpresence.co.uk/index.php The
first and original African/British History website. Books: Brick Lane by Monica Ali: With its gritty Tower Hamlets setting, this sharply observed contemporary novel about the life of an Asian immigrant girl deals cogently with issues of love, cultural difference and the human spirit. The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi The winner of the Whitbread Best First Novel 1990, this is the story of Karim Amir, "an Englishman born and bred - almost", who lives with his English mother and Indian father in the South London suburbs And Still I Rise: seeking justice for Stephen by Doreen Lawrence In April 1993, Stephen Lawrence was murdered by a group of young white men on a street in South-East London. From the first police investigation onwards, the case was badly mishandled. In the end, long after the case against the five suspects had been dropped, the government had to give in to mounting pressure and hold a public inquiry, which became the most explosive in British legal history. These facts leave the reader unprepared for Doreen Lawrence's own story of her son's murder. In this raw, honest book, she writes about her life for the first time, and recreates the pain, frustration and bafflement she experienced as she realised that there would never be a moment when she could say to herself that justice had been done. For
the Love of Anthony: A Mother's Search for Truth After the London
Bombings by Marie Fatayi-Williams In
this unique account, Marie Fatayi-Williams, a mother who lost
her son, Anthony Fatayi-Williams, in the July 7th bombings in
London tells of her loss, her grief, and ultimately her faith
in this powerful and moving book. After her heart-rending speech
on Monday 11 July 2005 in the wake of the atrocities, she became
a symbol of the grief caused by terrorists all over the world.
Now, a year on, she describes her account of that terrible day
and personal struggle to face the senseless death of her son.
This book also highlights her frustration with the official investigation
and expresses how she resisted against bureaucratic delays. Her
story is told with her vivid gift for language with raw passion,
and ultimately with the love of a mother. The Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands by Mary
Seacole Only Half of Me: Being a Muslim in Britain by Rageh Omaar ex BBC reporter now working for Al Jezeera writes about the experience of being a Muslim growing up in England The Storytellers Daughter by Saira Shah “Saira Shah takes us on an extraordinary journey from an English childhood, laced with Afghan myths handed down from her forebears, to the terrors and complexities of present-day Afghanistan. . . . At the end of it you are left with the truest sense of this magical country together with the recognition this exceptional English writer is still unmistakably Afghani.” –Jon Snow Film: General
Websites: Photogalleries: Music: Art: Newspapers: http://www.theforgivenessproject.com/project The Forgiveness Project: a young charitable organisation – with no political or religious affiliations – working at a local, national and international level to promote conflict resolution and restorative practices as alternatives to the endless cycles of conflict, violence and crime that are the hallmarks of our time. Through collecting and sharing personal stories, and delivering educational and self-help programmes, The Forgiveness Project aims to reframe the debate about how individuals and communities can learn to celebrate difference and overcome division, thereby fostering positive social change. Books: Druids: Celtic Priests of Nature by Jean Markale: A comprehensive and revealing look at the druids and their fundamental role in Celtic society that dispels many of the misconceptions about these important religious figures and their doctrine * Written by the world's leading authority on Celtic culture. Druidism was one of the greatest and most exalting adventures of the human spirit, attempting to reconcile the irreconcilable, the individual and the collective, creator and created, good and evil, day and night, past and future, and life and death Credo by Melvyn Bragg –– historical novel, about Irish and English Christianity circa 6-9 centuries. The History of Mary Prince: A West Indian Slave by Mary Prince the first narrative of a black woman to be published in Britain. It describes Prince's sufferings as a slave in Bermuda, Turks Island and Antigua, and her eventual arrival in London with her brutal owner Mr Wood in 1828. Prince escaped from him and sought assistance from the Anti-Slavery Society. Rough Music: Blair, Bombs, Baghdad, London, Terror by Tariq Ali lays bare the vengeful platitudes of Blair's war on civil liberties, mounts a scorching attack on the cosy falsehoods of the government's 'consensus' on what the threat amounts to and how to respond, and denounces the corruption of the political-media bubble which allows it to go unchallenged. Finally, invoking the perseverance and integrity of the great dissenters of the past, he calls for political resistance, within parliament and without. The Clash of Fundamentalisms: Crusades, Jihads and Modernity by Tariq Ali After the events of September 11, 2001, the veteran writer, filmmaker and political activist Tariq Ali has been in great demand to provide his own radical perspective on the significance of the attacks, and the result is The Clash of Fundamentalisms: Crusades, Jihads and Modernity. Ali's book explores the history that preceded these events, and deals directly with the political history of Islam, its founding myths, its origins, its culture, its riches, its divisions. However, this is no dry history book, but a powerful and wide-ranging polemic that interrogates the hypocrisy of Islamist politics and religion, while also denouncing the double standards of US and UK foreign policy towards Islamic states over the last century. Tariq Ali has written many other great if controversial books on contemporary issues with Britain and the Middle East. Rough Crossings by Simon Schama the astonishing story of the struggle to freedom by thousands of African-American slaves who fled the plantations to fight behind British lines in the American War of Independence. Genderqueer: Voices from Beyond the Sexual Binary by Riki Anne Wilchins, Clare Howell, and Joan Nestle: In this groundbreaking anthology, three experts in gender studies and politics navigate around rigid, societally imposed concepts of two genders to discover and illuminate the limitless possibilities of identity. The nearest ancient sites accessible from London
Stonehenge is a Neolithic and Bronze
Age megalithic monument located
near Amesbury in
the English county
of Wiltshire,
about 8 miles (13 km) north of Salisbury.
It is composed of earthworks surrounding
a circular setting of large standing
stones and is one of the most famous prehistoric sites
in the world. Archaeologists think
that the standing stones were erected between 2500
BC and 2000
BC although the surrounding circular earth bank and ditch,
which constitute the earliest phase of the monument, have been
dated to about 3100
BC. The site and its surroundings were added to the UNESCO's
list of World
Heritage Sites in 1986 in a co-listing with Avebury.
It is also a legally protected Scheduled
Ancient Monument. Stonehenge itself is owned and managed
by English
Heritage while the surrounding land is owned by the National
Trust. Adapted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonehenge |
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