The New East End: Kinship, Race and Conflict

by Geoff Dench, Michael Dunlop Young, Kate Gavron

This is non-fiction Brick Lane -what life is really like around Brick Lane and the East End. One of the most influential non-fiction books of the 1950s was Family and Kinship in East London which examined in great depth the life of people living in the dockland areas that had been so comprehensively destroyed in the blitz. What has happened since? In the 50 years since the whole area has gone into terrible decline; has been comprehensively redeveloped (sometimes more than once); and, most important of all, has seen the traditional families largely leave, to be replaced by a huge influx of Bangladeshi families - many of whom are now into the second generation. What are their lives like? How is the community coping with the radical change? What are relations like between the old white population and the new Asian population? Does government policy affect racism? (Here the authors show - startlingly - that housing policies have made race relations much worse and must be changed. This will be very controversial). The book is a comprehensive examination of life in one of the most intriguing parts of England - but it stands for all Britain, and indeed everywhere in the world with large new immigrant populations.

Genres: Nonfiction, London, History

288 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2006

Reviews

[Pogue]

I first got this book shortly after it was published (in 2006) to enlarge my understanding of London's East End. It lives on my bookshelf for reference (it has a brilliant index) and I read it again about every five years. Now on my fourth reading, it is as pertinent today as it was first time. With the latest immigrants crossing the channel in dingies, it allows me to understand their possible future plight.

[Samuel Weiss · Rating 4 out of 5]

A follow-up to Young' Family and Kinship in East London, though I find not as engaging as the original. Sociology, like many social sciences, is often very cliche-ridden and the emphasis on quantitative analysis and good research design excaberates this problem.

[JShier JShier · Rating 5 out of 5]

I grew up here in the late seventies and early eighties and experienced some of the situations researched and described, especially at school. This is a very, very interesting, enlightening, accurate and objective study. An excellent book to help people understand the foundations of race relations in this and similar areas, the causes of tension between groups of people subject to government policy, and the type of mentality and thought processes a person develops when living there.

[Sanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had to read this book during one of my courses in English, (and parts of it were interesting), but I probably wouldn't have read it otherwise.

[Alan Fricker · Rating 4 out of 5]

A partial follow up to Family and kinship in the East End. Looks at some of the impacts of changes to housing stock management in the East End and oppulation shifts.

[Alexis]

The New East End by Geoff Dench (2006)