3 british belief and values

Public spiritedness and amateurism 7.. The love of the countryside British people have an idealistic vision of the countryside  countryside = peace + quietness + good health + no cri

British Beliefs and Values

-I don t want to be British I ’

want to be Scottish!

-I do think of us as part of

Britain

- No, but we re Scottish ’

- Year, but we re British ’

We re British Your ’ passport says that you re ’

British.

(White Scottish, Glasgow)

British vs english

Yes, I am Welsh first If

someone ties me down, I ll ’

say I m British I m proud ’ ’

to be Welsh, but not so

proud to be British

Britishness for me is just

a name End of story.

(White Welsh, Cardiff)

The first thing that comes to mind when you say English is

a white person You don t see ’

© Commission for Racial Equality

St Dunstan’s House, 201-211 Borough

High Street

London SE1 1GZ

We celebrate the diversity in our country, get strength from different

cultures and the races that go to making up Britain today.

-Former Prime Minister Tony Blair, 2 October 2001

More than 250 languages are spoken in London

Contents

1 Conservatism

2 Being different

3 The love of nature

4 The love of animals

5 Formality and informality

6 Public spiritedness and

amateurism

7 Privacy and sex

as a way of winning support

However

However For example

They like their pubs to look old

1 Conservatism

They like living in an old house

Children like reading stories in

Contents

1 Conservatism

2 Being different

3 The love of nature

4 The love of animals

5 Formality and informality

6 Public spiritedness and

amateurism

7 Privacy and sex

8 Others

2 Being different

Conservatism + individualism =

proud of being different

E.g left-hand traffic

The double-decker buses

2 Being different

Contents

1 Conservatism

2 Being different

3 The love of nature

4 The love of animals

5 Formality and informality

6 Public spiritedness and

amateurism

7 Privacy and sex

8 Others

3 The love of nature

The love of the

countryside

British people have an idealistic

vision of the countryside

 countryside = peace + quietness +

good health + no crime

The love of the

countryside

The love of the

Royal Paddock Allotments

in London

Royal Paddock Allotments

in London

Royal Paddock Allotments

in London

Royal Paddock Allotments

in London

Some history connected with the

building of the Channel tunnel

Dislike of new constructions

On the French side communities battled with each other to get the new railway lines built through their towns

On the English side,

nobody wanted

the rail link

near them

Contents

1 Conservatism

2 Being different

3 The love of nature

4 The love of animals

5 Formality and informality

6 Public spiritedness and

amateurism

7 Privacy and sex

4 The love of animals

Soldiers dog cemetery at Edinburgh Castle ’

 St Tiggywinkles, the world s busiest hospital for ’

wildlife animals

 Treats over 10,000 animal casualties a year

 Open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year (even

Christmas)

 All treatment free to public

4 The love of animals

Bird watching is very popular 

bird tables

4 The love of animals

Pictures and cover of British Birds

(January 2007), one among many

other British bird magazines

Pets have the five basic freedoms“ ”:

1 Freedom from hunger and thirst

2 Freedom from discomfort

3.Freedom from pain, injury and disease 4.Freedom to express normal behaviour

4 The love of animals

Contents

1 Conservatism

2 Being different

3 The love of nature

4 The love of animals

5 Formality and informality

6 Public spiritedness and

amateurism

7 Privacy and sex

8 Others

5 Formality and Informality

 When a British person is playing a public role =>

formality

 When a British person is playing a private role => no rule at all

 In Britain, being friendly =

 not addressing by title (Mr., Mrs., Professor, etc.)

 not dressing smartly when entertaining guests

 not shaking hands when meeting

 The British still have a

reputation for being the

worst dressed people in

Europe, and they don t ’

really care

 The vast majority of

people buy clothes at

high-street stores, e.g

Marks and Spencer

 Many people, however,

still bargain at charity

shops

5 formality and informality

A Marks and Spencer

store

Oxfam charity shop in

Contents

1 Conservatism

2 Being different

3 The love of nature

4 The love of animals

5 Formality and informality

6 Public spiritedness and

amateurism

7 Privacy and sex

6 Public spiritedness and amateurism

‘ The cult of the talented amateur’

 This characteristic, however, is on the decline

‘ professionalism begins to have positive ’ meaning

 Yet tens of thousands of amateurs ‘ ’ are actively involved in charity work

 Oxfam,

 Amnesty International,

 Save the Children Fund

Contents

1 Conservatism

2 Being different

3 The love of nature

4 The love of animals

5 Formality and informality

6 Public spiritedness and

amateurism

7 Privacy and sex

7 Privacy and Sex

 Privacy underlies many aspects

 It is rude to ask personal question

(money, sex life)

‘ How do you do ’ is not a real request

 Not normally invite others to their

homes

 Sex , although viewed in an opener and

more positive way, is still regarded as an

absolutely private matter

(E.g joking innuendo and clumsy double – entendre)

A man walks into the

greengrocers and asks

the female assistant if

it's OK to squeeze her "melons".

Contents

1 Conservatism

2 Being different

3 The love of nature

4 The love of animals

5 Formality and informality

6 Public spiritedness and

amateurism

7 Privacy and sex

8 Others

8 others

8.1 To housing

8.2 To food

8.3 To drinking

is a detached house

of old style

To food

Food delicacy is not focused

Conservative about ingredients

Table manners are emphasized

 Eat quickly

 Table cleared

Opener to the way served

 Have no restaurant culture

 Strict laws on opening hours and amount of alcohol

Ambivalent

Suggestions for further

reading

1 Pubs- a reflection of

individualism, multiculturalism and conservatism, …

2 In what way is the British

individualism/ love of nature

mirrored in their housing?

3 What is reflected in British

charity activities?