Diversity and Exclusion: Migration Status, Local Cultural Capital and Unwelcoming Encounters in an Inclusive East London Borough

The nature of superdiversity in London is constantly transforming in response to world events, internal and international mobility, demographic changes and an ever-changing and multi-scalar policy and discursive landscape. Exclusionary national immigration policies often stand in stark contrast to the more inclusive approaches of local governments. Drawing on ethnographic research, this paper builds on theories of social complexity (Vertovec 2021) to discuss unwelcoming service encounters that expose the disconnect between a local authority’s inclusive representations of diversity and the harsh realities faced by newcomers with insecure legal status and limited local cultural capital, who face multiple barriers in accessing resources. We illustrate how these realities, exacerbated by unfamiliarity with the unspoken rules within support services, can result in exclusionary interactions marked by judgment, even by fellow residents of migrant heritage and within services aiming to promote diversity and inclusion. The paper argues that despite public narratives of inclusivity, ground-level encounters risk marginalizing vulnerable newcomers, undermining these inclusive representations. It illuminates the complex interplay between diverse configurations and the perpetuation of unequal social structures, offering insights into the relevance of less visible dimensions of difference in increasingly diverse urban environments.