当代英国华人社会与政治参与:以2010年大选为中心

Chinese Society and Political Participation in Contemporary Britain:A Case Study of the 2010 Election

本文以英国华人参与2010年下议院选举为中心,分析英国华人社会的变迁与政治参与。本文分为两个主要部分。第一部分讨论近20年来英国华人社会的结构及其特征,指出尽管华人人数迅速增加,但华人社会内部的多元化和碎片化的特征明显存在,这对华人社会内部凝聚力的形成和对英国国家认同感的建立有一定的阻碍作用。近来这一情形有所改变。第二部分围绕参加2010年选举的8位华裔候选人的政纲、组织、策略和选举结果,具体分析英国华人参政的成就与问题。结语部分探讨英国华人社会融合和参政的未来道路以及政策含义。

This case study of Chinese involvement in the 2010 Parliament Election is concerned with Chinese social integration and pohtical participation in the United Kingdom. It is divided into two main sections. The first section examines the changing characteristics and nature of British Chinese society in the past two decades. We argue that while the number of Chinese residing in the UK has increased significantly over the past two decades, there is a lack of social coherence and integration. This situation has changed gradually, as evidenced by the Chinese participation of the 2010 parliament election, which is the core of the second section of this paper. We analyze in details the political platforms, organizations and strategies, and election results of the eight ethnic Chinese candidates. After a discussion on the accomplishments and chal- lenges facing British Chinese, this paper concludes by offering some policy-related suggestions as to how to further promote Chinese social integration and political participation in Britain.