Mir, Sadiq Ahmed (2005)

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Mir, Sadiq Ahmed (2005) From villages 477 and 482 to suburbia : the
suburbanisation of Glasgow's Pakistani community. PhD thesis.

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FROM VILLAGES 477 AND 482 TO SUBURBIA: THE
SUBURBANISATION OF GLASGOW'S PAKISTANI
COMMUNITY
Sadiq Ahmed Mir
Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD
Department of Geographical and Earth Sciences
University of Glasgow
September, 2005
© Sadiq Ahnled )\'1 ir. 2005
ABSTRACT
This thesis combines socio-cultural and political-economy conceptual perspectives
to explain the relatively recent, yet growing phenomenon of Pakistani suburbanisation in
the Scottish city of Glasgow. Based on empirical evidence obtained through intervicw
and focus group discussions with community members, it is argued that a dense network
of co-ethnic social ties facilitates this dispersal, contributing to a series of discrete,
micro-level concentrations of Pakistani families in suburban areas. It is also argued that
suburban Pakistani identity may be considered 'hybrid', since the appeal of suburbia is
often conveyed through decidedly 'mainstream' (white?) terms of reference (i.e. there is
no reference to one's ethnicity or them 'being' Pakistani). Good schools, space and
'green' surroundings are all tantamount to the suburban dream. Finally, and setting thesc
socio-cultural understandings against their relevant political-economic backdrop, this
thesis investigates the impact of Glasgow's 'new' post-industrial economy on the
creation and allocation of Pakistani wealth and prosperity. The main contention here is
that post-industrial Glasgow has brought both 'dead ends' and 'new opportunities' to
Pakistani business and employment in the city.
Through thesc findings this thesis looks to progress existing geographical research
on Britain's non-white communities, where 'race' and ethnicity has become synonymous
with the 'inner-city', and in which insufficient attention has been paid to the
transformative geographical potential of the later generations.
Besides these academic concerns, this thesis intends to provide a welcome (and
relevant) reprieve from stereotypical. hegemonic representations of British-Pakistani
communities today. It is set against what is a \·cry unsettling time for these communities.
Since thc "textile town' riots of 200 I and the subsequent atrocities of "9/1 I' and '7/1',
they have bccome lightening rods for increased public suspicious and vengeful reaction.
Paraphrasing Alexander (2002), Muslims have become Britain's 'ultimate other'. The
narratives of Pakistani success, prosperity, and integration proposed here thus provide a
necessary - and \·alid - counterbalance to thesc negativc representations.
CONTENTS
Abstract
..
Contents
11
List of Figures
III
Acknowledgements
IV
Declaration v
Chapter 1 Introduction 1
Chapter 2 'Race' and Ethnicity in the City 17
Chapter 3 Diasporic Space and the City 39
Chapter 4 Researching 'Race' and Ethnicity in the City 57
Chapter 5 Placing Pakistani Suburbanisation in the Context of Glasgow's 93
Changing Urban Landscape
Chapter 6 Unpacking Glasgow-Pakistani Suburbanisation 107
Chapter 7 'Dead Ends' and 'New Opportunities': The Community in its 139
Urban Context
Chapter 8 Conclusions: 'Race' and Ethnicity in the City Revisited 181
Appendices 193
BihlioRraphy 197
..
11
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1.1 Rows of Tenements in Govanhill, a Traditional Area of Pakistani ')
Settlement in Glasgow
Figure 1.2 Glasgow's Pakistani Population by Age 5
Figure 3.1 The Politics of Identity 42
Figure 4.1 Checklist for Evaluating Qualitative Research 90
Figure 5.1 Population of Glasgow, 1951-1971 98
Figure 5.2 Distribution of Asian Settlement: 1951-1971 101
Figure 5.3 Distribution of Pakistani Settlement 1981: 2001 106
Figure 7.1 NS-SeC by Ethnic Group (Glasgow City, 2001) 155
Figure 7.2 NS-SeC by Ethnic Group (East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, 200 I) 156
Figure 7.3 Glasgow-Pakistani Social Profile 157
Figure 7.4 Glasgow-Pakistanis by Economic Activity 158
Figure 7.5 The Middle-class by Ethnic Group (Glasgow City, 1991) 158
Figure 7.6 The Middle-class by Ethnic Group (Suburbia, 1991) 159
Figure 7.7 Glasgow-Pakistani Social Profile (1991) 159
III
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
It is certainly true that part of the PhD experience involves making new friends and
establishing greater affinity with those you would already place within this category.
Thanks are due to everyone I ever came into contact with during my rather attenuated
eight (!) year stay at the Department of Geographical and Earth Sciences at the
University of Glasgow (including those who were of course here during the previous two
departmental guises). This includes my fellow colleagues amongst the staff and wider
postgraduate community (even those I had the misfortune of seeing in cricket whites),
and also my former buddies from the heady days of undergraduatedom, many of which
contributed uniquely to my enjoyment of this comparatively hassle-free time of life.
Respect also to those with whom I have had the pleasure of sharing not just an
office with, but so too the various trials and tribulations of being a PhD student. Marilyn
and John C especially, thank you.
Thanks are due to all those Pakistanis, Glasgow-Pakistanis, Asians, British-Asians,
Muslims, Glaswegians, or whatever the exactitudes of their preferred titles, who each
sacrificed their time to contribute to this research. The same is also true of my
supervisors Paul Routledge and Andy Cumbers.
Finally, this thesis is dedicated to my father Tariq Mir, whose own experiences
provided the inspiration for this study, and whose lifetime's hard work and business
achievements, made only possible through the input of a few notable others - including
my baijans - allowed this study to happen. This thesis is also dedicated to my beautiful
daughter Samira Mir, who was born two-and-a-half years into my undergraduate studies,
and who has, to my delight, proved to be the most adorable cycle companion a father
could ever wish for. Long may this continue!
IV
DEC LARAT ION
This thesis is based on the results of original research carried out by the author
between October 200 I and September 2005. References to existing works are made
as appropriate. Any remaining errors or omissions are the sole responsibility of the
author.
Sadiq Ahmed Mir
Glasgow, September, 2005.
\'
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Setting The Scene
'Although it is possible to predict the likely behaviour of the
present generation, the social and economic goals of second
generation Asians are wholly unpredictable, and it is they who
will ultimately affect the behaviour of this distinctive and
important group within Glasgow's urban system.' (Kearsley and
Srivistava, 1974: 124)
Thirty years ago Glasgow's Pakistani population was almost exclusively
contained within pockets of sandstone tenements in selected areas of the inner-city.
Nowadays, however, a 'new', accelerating and very specific pattern of dispersal is
evident, characterised by the movement of Glasgow-Pakistanis to relatively
prosperous 'suburban' areas on the fringes of the city. In the suburban council
districts of East Dunbartonshire1 (to the North of the city) and East Renfrewshire2 (to
the South), there are now 508 and 1,765 Pakistanis: 0.47% and 1.98% of each
district's respective populations. The scale of this dispersal is more appreciable when
we remember that the number of Pakistanis living within the Glasgow City district
itself (not including these suburban areas) stands at 15,314, most of whom remain in
the inner-city tenement areas of Govanhill, Pollokshields and Woodside. Therefore.
while the community is still nucleated in a few, inner-urban areas, the growth of the
suburban Pakistani population is such that it cannot be glossed over within modem
day discussions of Glasgow-Pakistani settlement.
The contemporary significance of Pakistani suburbanisation masks what is an
important juncture within the overall development of the community. Crucial to the
acceleration of the suburbanisation process has been the 'coming' of later generation
Pakistanis within the city's housing and labour markets. as predicted by Kearsley and
Srivistava (1974) three decades ago (above). The Glasgow-Pakistani population is
strikingly youthful (Figure 1.2) and the experiences, thoughts, desires and overall life
I Containing the settlements of Bl'arsden. Milngavie, Bishopbriggs. Lentil' and Kirkintilloeh.
:2 Of which Gi ffnoek. Clarkston and Newton Means are the main settlements.
strategies of young Pakistanis differ from those of their elder making thi a
transitional point for the community. These generational differences ha e had
geographical repercussions. Pakistani immigrants (the first generation) tried much
harder to replicate traditional lifestyles upon their arrival in thi we can
Britain~
gather from their relative (and academically well-documented) isolation from
mainstream social, economic and cultural arenas (Dahya, Anwar, Khan,
1973~ 1979~
1979). The maintenance of traditional cultural codes and stricture is nonethele
diminishing amongst young Pakistanis, for whom things 'Scottish' have greater
resonance. Thriving ethnic centres, which offer a territorial base for the maintenance
of distinctive ways of life and a space for the mobilisation of co-ethnic political
activity (Solomos and Back, 1995) are thus becoming less of a necessity for
Glasgow-Pakistanis. Increasingly, they are swapped for the perceived practicalitie of
suburbia (space, good schools, and seclusion) and the codes, values and as ociation
that suburban living entails. In these instances the identities of younger Paki tani are
more in line with what we may call a white, middle-class, Scottish suburbanite
identity, as opposed to a distinctly 'Pakistani' identity.
Figure 1.1: Rows of tenements in Govanhill, a traditional area of
Pakistani settlement in Glasgow
.
"
'Unpacking Paki tani uburbani ation nonethele s reqUlre more ext n i
under tanding. of the community than any interrogation of 'culture' al ne will
p ml1t. For one, it i ..' inlp rtant to rec gni how the changing identitie., or "new'
~e
ethni iti s (Hall, 1991). of .. e nd and later-g nerati n Paki tani~ are nm sh d
within the changing on mic cont ,t f th ity. 1 ading t the e P' n. j n f the
Glasgow-Pakistani bourgeoisie and a resultant socio-economic community profile
3
that is more conducive to suburban house purchase A prominent example of this
.
relates to the orientation of later generation Pakistanis towards university and college
education, the impetus for which was provided by the migrant fust generation who
learned from their own experiences in the labour market, where they typically had to
negotiate 'insecure' forms of employment with low skill requirements, or be
dependent on the Glaswegian public in small retail and food businesses. They now
hope that their children avoid the same work related stresses as they encountered, and
they go to great lengths conveying the importance of tertiary education to their
children, anticipating that this will lead them into what are viewed as more rewarding
forms of employment in the city's burgeoning professional and managerial sectors.
Given this 'hothouse' approach to education, many young Pakistanis are indeed
striving to meet the expectations of their parents: nearly one-in-five Pakistanis aged
16 or over are currently in full-time education, compared to a figure of one-in-ten for
Glasgow's white population (General Registers Office for Scotland, 2003).
Pakistani educational attainment must nevertheless coincide with a ready supply
of 'white collar' employment and/or entrepreneurial opportunities for
professionalisation and upward social mobility to take hold. A sole emphasis on
(Pakistani) 'culture' thus offers only partial insights into the suburbanisation process.
The community must also be placed against its broader urban, regional, state and
indeed global context, since political-economic forces operating across these scales
have been refracted locally, having significant impacts on the nature of work and
employment in the city. This top-down perspective helps 'place' the success of many
of today's young Pakistanis in professional, managerial and other 'white collar'
forms of employment, since these forms of employment are emblematic of Glasgow
'new', and increasingly service and retail-driven, urban economy.
1.1.1 Lahour market change in Glasgow
The nature of labour market change Glasgow follows the post-industriaL
III
advanced capitalist urban logic suggested previously by Sassen (1994a; 1996). Rapid
J Similarities exist hctwecn the suhurhanisation of Glasgow's Pakistani communities and that of the
city's Jewish community, some thirty years ago. Like Pakistanis. Jews also settled first in the
dilapidated Gorhals area immediatdy South of Glasgow's central husiness district. Having gone
through the same inter-generational shift towards the professions. the community is nov, distinctl)
affluent and concentrated mainly in the South Glasgow suhurbs of Giffnock. Whitecraigs and Newton
Mearns (Benski. 1976: 19XO: 19X 1).
3