September 2002
Research and Teaching

Bradford: One Year on - Breaking the Silences

A discussion document to open out debate about the 1995 and 2001 disturbances in Bradford has been produced by leading academics from the University.

The document, entitled 'Bradford: One Year On - Breaking the Silences', was produced by academic social scientists from several different disciplines. They were joined, both as contributors and in the wider discussions within the Programme for a Peaceful City, by others active in various capacities within the District, including community and voluntary work, interfaith initiatives, youth work, health and local authority services. Contributors from the University were Ute Buhler, Janet Bujra, Alan Carling, Lisa Cumming, Matt Hannam, Philip Lewis, Marie Macey, Peter Nias, Donna Pankhurst, Jenny Pearce, Yunas Samad and Ian Vine.

Peter Nias said: "The document arose from a collaborative initiative of a group of individuals who are citizens of Bradford, and are concerned above all about the future of the city. The overall purpose has been to pool the knowledge and experience of this diverse group in order to help open out the debate on Bradford's future."

More specifically, the document is published in pursuit of two of the founding aims of the Programme for a Peaceful City:

• To build shared understandings of the problems facing Bradford in order to influence thinking on these problems more effectively.
• To open dialogue with each other and to confront difficult issues, building in the process a safe space to develop appropriate vocabularies to discuss issues of race, ethnicity and cultural diversity.

The document invites everyone within the Bradford District to reflect together on common difficulties, as ordinary citizens - young or old - and members of particular communities, or in roles as councillors, community leaders, teachers, police officers, policy makers, business people, social workers, and opinion formers. It is hoped that the document will also help those outside the District to understand the current situation and its background.

Peter said: "We are convinced that any resolution to the problems of Bradford will be the work of committed individuals and organisations from many different traditions. The signs from the variety of initiatives over the last year - coming both from the grass roots and from local institutions - warrant a cautious optimism about our collective future."

• Copies of the document, which cost £1, can be obtained by contacting Rachael Ellis on 01274 (23)3084 or emailing r.ellis1@bradford.ac.uk

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