The raging public and political debate about immigration in Britain changes the use and meaning of English words related to immigrants. One of these words is ‘integration’.
The noun integration comes from the verb to integrate, defined by the online dictionary Merriam-Webster in neutral terms as: 1. to form, coordinate, or blend into a functioning or unified whole (unite); and 2. to incorporate into a larger unit or to unite with something else. So, when immigrants integrate they simply become part of a larger society.
Affective
However, ‘integration of immigrants’ now also has an affective meaning. For example, in February 2010 the Conservative Member of Parliament Philip Holobone, said during a Commons debate on Population and Immigration:
If there are a small number of immigrants arriving and spreading themselves out across the country, of course there will be integration. But if there are large numbers of immigrants arriving in a small number of places where they often do not speak English or integrate into the British way of life, there will be huge problems.
Holobone’s choice of words indicates that he feels that immigrants should integrate into British society by learning English and adopting British culture and customs. In other words, they should assimilate or conform.
The shift on what it means for migrants to integrate is not specifically British. In February 2025 the journalist Rachida Azough wrote in an essay on the ‘integrationparadox’ for the Dutch weekly De Groene Amsterdammer: ‘You [the immigrant] are never “adjusted” enough. Is it not time to bin the term integration?’
Definition
To avoid misunderstanding, in my work I define integration of immigrants as a process through which a migrant group becomes part of a society without necessarily losing the group’s original identity and characteristics, and during which the wider society itself undergoes changes by absorbing the immigrants.
Many factors can influence such a process. They include the feelings in the existing general population about newcomers. Currently racism, hate and discrimination continue to affect people from black, Asian and ethnic minority groups and others with immigrant backgrounds.
Attitudes
Quite a few attitudes in the present general population towards immigrants hark back to emotions evoked before 1921. These feelings probably became part of a collective memory and were conveyed from one generation to the next, to rise again repeatedly.
However, people can change their attitudes and behaviour. So, I hope to have produced studies that clarify history and provide insights that prove useful in studying and supporting processes of integration that take place as human migration across the globe persists.
You can find more information about my work here.
Ben Braber 