Manchester as a world city
Manchester is a great place to study for a degree in Social Anthropology because not only the university, but also the city itself has a great deal to offer.
Many different groups of people have come from all over the world to live in Manchester, seeking either economic opportunity or political refuge, enriching and diversifying its cultural life. The first industrial city of the nineteenth century, the world capital of cotton spinning, Manchester went through economic decline in the mid 20th century, but is now emerging as an increasingly successful multi-cultural, multi-ethnic post-industrial world city.
Of all the cities where anthropology is taught in the UK, only London is as culturally diverse. But at about a quarter of the size, Manchester is very much more compact and manageable. It is also very much cheaper in terms accommodation, food, transport, going out.
A city built by migrants
The Irish were the first large group of migrants to come to Manchester in the early 19th century, providing the labour force for the mills that drove the new economy. Their dire living conditions were the subject of ethnographic observation by none other than Friedrich Engels, whose family owned a textile mill in the city. Many were settled around the present site of the university, which is why there is a large Catholic church in the middle of the campus. Not far away is the house where Engels lived with his Irish lover, causing great scandal at the time.
There have been several waves of Jewish migration: in the mid 19th century from around the Mediterranean, in the late 19th century from the western margin of the Russian empire and in the 1930s from Germany and Central Europe. They now constitute the largest Jewish community in the UK outside London, representing the full range of Jewish religious attitudes from the most orthodox to the entirely secular.
The Chinese community, dating from the latter part of the 19th century is also the largest outside London. Considerable numbers of German and Italian migrants arrived around the same time. The Chinese, mostly Cantonese, have developed a Chinatown in the centre of the city with many different restaurants and supermarkets, and a resplendent ceremonial arch. The Italians settled around Ancoats and set up ice-cream businesses, though as they became more prosperous, most later moved away.
In the 20th century, many different groups arrived. There are very substantial groups from all over the Indian subcontinent, most visibly present perhaps in the form of the ‘Curry Mile’ of restaurants and shops just south of the campus, but also, for example, in the magnificent new Sikh temple in Whalley Range, a couple of miles to the southwest. There is also a substantial Afro-caribbean community, mostly concentrated in Moss Side, lying just to the west of the campus.
But there are also many other smaller groups who have come to Manchester over the last century due to political instability across the globe – Armenians, Ukrainians, Poles, Greek Cypriots, East African Asians, Bosnians, Somalis and most recently, Iraquis, Kurds and Afghanis. Today, more than 150 languages are spoken in Manchester’s schools.
Manchester as a contemporary city
Manchester is culturally diverse in other ways too. The ‘gay village’ around Canal Street, just east of the city centre, has an international reputation for its numerous cosmopolitan bars and restaurants. But there are at least three other party districts in central Manchester (the lively Printworks, upmarket Deansgate and the more bohemian Northern Quarter) each offering its own particular brand of fun. And, of course, the Manchester music scene is legendary. It has produced Northern Soul and the Haçienda Club and countless bands including the Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, New Order and Oasis. The most recent manifestation is the Warehouse Project, a vast music and dance club in the basement of a former brewery.
But if you have other musical tastes, you can go to world-class classical, opera and musical theatre performances at a fraction of London prices. There are some great museums too, particularly the futuristic Imperial War Museum on the edge of the Salford Quays harbour, no longer importing cotton, but now a cultural centre where the BBC is building a vast new Media City. There is also an active arts, cinema and theatre scene, and a couple of football clubs – one wears red kit, the other wears blue. Both claim to be the richest club in the world. Visit the University's student life webpages.
If you want to get away from it all, the Lake District just to the north, and the Peak District just to the south of Manchester, provide the nearest that you can get to a wilderness in England. And if you want to get even further away, the international airport is only 20 minutes from the city centre, and has direct flights to every major European city. Its long haul flight network is easily the most comprehensive of any European regional airport. No less than four airlines compete to offer direct flights to New York.
