Does Multiculturalism Threaten Social Cohesion

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Multiculturalism is not a new phenomenon in the world. With the emergence of neoliberalism and the development of new technology followed by globalization, free trade between nations has accelerated the immigration process around the world, making a multicultural society inevitable in modern life. The United States of America is one of the world’s largest multicultural societies in which black African, white European, and Asian people live together, and all of them originally migrated to the region with different goals, cultures and religions. Historically, there is evidence of conflict between different groups within multicultural societies, but the emergence of the liberal system has produced more equality between all members of society regardless of their culture, religion and identity, thus minimizing conflict between new arrivals and the host population. With regard to the causes and consequences of the multicultural system and the extent to which it threatens or encourages the social unity of society, politicians, sociologists and economists have introduced a variety of opinions and arguments. This essay examines these different arguments about whether the system of multiculturalism works in practice and has the ability to mobilize all groups and cultures to rally around a specific system or merely separates them. It will also examine the possible consequences should social cohesion be threatened by multiculturalism.

No precise meaning of multiculturalism has been suggested by sociologists and politicians. Hence, a variety of arguments have been put forward in order to examine the idea of multiculturalism, but a typical and more obvious definition of multiculturalism is “the belief that different cultures within a s...

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-Mason, R. (2014) ‘Immigration benefits UK economy, says Treasury independent advisers’ the guardian, 14 January.

-McGhee, D. (2008) ‘the end of multiculturalism? UK: Open University Press

-Pfaff, W. (2005) ‘A monster of our own making’ The Observer, Sunday 21 August 2005,

Williams, V. Migration & Social Cohesion

-Wright, O, & Taylor, J. (2011) ‘My war on multiculturalism’ Independent, Saturday 05 February

< http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/cameron-my-war-on-multiculturalism-2205074.html>

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