ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on four recent and prominent experiences of expert commissions, namely those of the UK, France, Quebec and Belgium. Listed in chronological order, and named after the respective chair(s) of the commissions, these include the Parekh Commission, the Stasi Commission, the Bouchard-Taylor Commission and the Foblets-Kulakowski Commission. The Parekh Commission was chaired by Lord Bhikhu Parekh and comprised 22 members, with Tariq Modood as advisor. The Parekh Commission, whatever its shortcomings, is widely considered to have moved forward the discussion on national identity and the contested idea of Britishness, as Tariq Modood, Varun Uberoi and Ralph Grillo show in their respective essays. Tariq Modood's essay considers the place of religion in relation to post-immigration diversity in Britain and British national identity, as reflected in three national commission reports stretching over 30 years, namely the Swann Report and the reports of the Commission on Multi-Ethnic Britain and the Commission on Religion and Belief in British Public Life.
