London: City of Paradox

Proceedings of an international conference at the University of East London
Docklands Campus, London E16 2RD. 3-5 April 2012, and hosted by the Centre for Research on Migration, Refugees and Belonging (CMRB).

The 2012 Olympic Games have focused attention on London. Official representations of the Games stress the city’s inclusiveness and its history of bringing together the peoples and cultures of the world. Although these themes are important, last year’s riots remind us that London is a city of exclusion as well as inclusion. How do we evaluate these different accounts? How to understand the city in all its complexity?

This conference examines London as a city which has both encouraged and discouraged migration and settlement – which has stimulated cultural heterogeneity and homogeneity. It considers how powerful institutions have shaped discourses of nation and empire as well as of internationalism and diversity. It examines the multiple contradictions associated with the past and the present – London, City of Paradox.