Diversifying the Uniform? The Participation of Minority Ethnic Personnel in the British Armed Services

Abstract

This article considers the pressures on the British armed services to increase the participation of minority ethnic groups and assesses recent government policy on this issue. Limited progress has been made toward the realization of current goals, which are framed largely in terms of the concept of "equal opportunities." The authors argue that while the concept of diversity appears to provide a more sociologically well-founded basis for future government strategy on this aspect of service personnel policy, there remain significant obstacles to effective implementation of practical measures. These concern in particular the ways in which the armed services relate to wider questions of British identity. Successfully increasing the participation of minority ethnic communities in the British armed services, we contend, entails developing a new framework for British identity and citizenship that cannot be accomplished by the armed services alone. It is, rather, a responsibility of both government and wider society as a whole.