1.

The social and cultural context

Since the 1950s, Britain has experienced a period of accelerated social and cultural change. This has
coincided with the disintegration of the British Empire, the expansion of the Commonwealth, and the
immigration of people of numerous nationalities, languages and cultures, producing a multi-ethnic
country with a plurality of identities and heritages.
The social and cultural profile has been transformed by women’s movement. The entry of women into
the labour market and their increasing independence has brought about fundamental changes in their
position in society and their relations with men.
The impact of ethnicity, feminism and youth has been felt across the arts, as from 1948 successive
governments provided funds through the Art Council to encourage experimentation and even
counter-cultural styles of expression.
Thatcherism marked the greatest political, economic and cultural shift in Britain of the 20th century.
The country became politically polarised between the Tory Party and its free-market economics and
the political left with its socialist ideals of nationalisation.
State subsidies and benefits for the arts were replaced with a culture of individualism, private
enterprise and the values of the market place in almost every area of society.
The arts were treated as any other business; plays, films seen as products for consumption by
consumers in a competitive market place.
By the mid-1990s the Conservative government was suffering from weak-leadership.
The victory of the Labour Party in May 1997 provided the country and its cultural life with a new
sense of self-confidence.
In the years that followed there was a period of relative prosperity and stability, characterised by
record levels of low unemployment, low inflation, rising living standards and investment in public
services.

At the end of the 20th century Britain bore little resemblance to the country in 1900, when for most of
the people most of the time there had been terrible poverty and social inequality.
There was a new aim to achieve equality and progress in key areas of the economy such as health,
education, transport and housing.
One of the first steps towards reform was the nationalisation of all key industries, such as coal,
transport, iron and steel, to secure mass employment. Then in 1948 the ‘welfare state’ was set up,
which provided social security and healthcare free of charge to all citizens.
The measures were a brave attempt to build the “new Jerusalem” and overcome the poverty of
generations, in which people of all classes, incomes and colours would be cared for by the state ‘from
the cradle to the grave’.
The Labour government was rejected in the election of 1951; the incoming Tory Party continued the
tradition of post-war patrician government (society’s interests seen as a whole).

Britain’s economic growth created high levels of demand for manual labour in low-paid areas of work
such as transport, health and catering.
British municipal authorities began to offer jobs to Commonwealth citizens in the West Indies, India,
Pakistan, Africa and Hong Kong.
The initial motive for coming to Britain was for the male head of household to work and save money,
before returning home to the country of origin. But economic realities meant that within a few years,
the family and relatives were coming to Britain to join their menfolk.
The presence of immigrant communities disturbed the local population. Daily lives began to change
and, as immigration increased, race became a source of social conflict. Prejudice and discrimination
from employers, workmates and landlords became a regular feature of the immigrant experience.