Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Positive effects of multiculturalism
Impact of multiculturalism in society
Essays on the impact of multiculturalism
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Positive effects of multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is a relatively new has been defined many different ways and from various perspectives both socially and academically (Heckman, 1993), and as in many cases, when definitions are not established, confusion results. Because of this, within western Christianity and Christian higher education, it is often linked to “postmodernism” and moral relativism and seen as one of the principle threats facing the church today. Christerson, Edwards & Emerson (2005), discuss the results of their case study of multiculturalism and diversity within Emmanuel Bible College and the obstacle to racial dialogue due to “the idea that promoting diversity and emphasizing ethnic differences is part of a wider multicultural movement that is relativistic …show more content…
Systems and structures are analyzed in order to make the necessary changes as an endeavor of social engineering and to challenge the “cultural hegemony of the dominant ethnic group” (Turner, 1994, p. 407). Werbner (1997) cautions that there can exist a certain naivety regarding this ideology as “there are many multiculturalisms as there are political arenas for collective action ...Multiculturalism is always a specific negotiated order and no amount of abstract philosophical or legal reasoning can prescribe a single ‘just’ model” (1997, 263). Typically within this process there is a creation of conflict as there will be those who subscribe to the changes and those who are against them. Thus under this ideology, multiculturalism is widely accepted by both sides as being politically leftist and progressive, as well as anti-nationalist by those opposed to a multiculturalist ideal (Nye, 2007). It should also be noted that it is an ideology intrinsic to the natural order of things (Devine, 1994. pp. 16-17) and with a moral imperative (Goldberg, 1994. pp. …show more content…
During these years, the Bible was held up as the ultimate source of truth yet interpreted solely from a western, highly individualistic perspective that focused on the individual’s life and the unity of believers within the church. Because of this perspective, there was no acknowledgement of the many passages of scripture that spoke to racial reconciliation or justice issues. Many years have passed and justice issues and diversity are on the minds of younger students and highlighted in the mission and value statements of most universities. But do these acknowledgements of the importance of these issues, and the interest of the students translate into curriculum that highlights these elements? According to the case studies presented by Christerson, Edwards & Emerson (2005), when asking professors and administrators why they believed diversity was important, very few professors and no administrators pointed to the believe that diversity promotes academic excellence by providing multiple perspectives or diverse ways of knowing. One Chinese American student interviewed stated that “Race, class, and gender issues are not talked about in Bible classes. Which is incredible because the Bible is always talking about these things. Jesus’ parables are always talking about which groups
The mention of the abolition of multiculturalism for a “new” post-multiculturalist approach becomes difficult to understand. It claims, “to avoid the ‘excesses’ of multiculturalism” (47), however where does this notable governmental and social switch take place? How is the term coined, and how is it understood in theory versus in practice? How is it different from its predecessor? Even the classification of history struggles to define what is considered to be modern, let alone post-modern, and yet the term suggests a positive approach to alleviating difficult assimilation projects similar to those faced elsewhere (47). This notion may developed on the grounds of “someone else’s problems” ¬– in regards to its Canadian context – as a means to label, or justify, miscellaneous aspects of multiculturalism. However, with the government-wide commitment to policies and programs, in conjunction with social understanding, it naturally becomes subject to a wide array of differing opinions. As both immigration and citizenship policies change, its public reception often shifts as well. Especially since the channels referred to within the ‘multiculturalism...
middle of paper ... ... Given that multiculturalism is a framework that says that anyone can sit at the table so long as they accept certain political and cultural divisions which ultimately work to make impossible your ability to change the basic structure of meaning in society, or which seek to extract any political potential from the things you say, the things you embody and the things you want. You can have holidays, but not your language. You can have a month of the year for your race, but no justice.
Ted A. Campbell and Michael T. Burns., 2004, Wesleyan Essentials in a Multicultural Society. Abingdon Press, Nashville, TN.
James H. Cone is the Charles A. Briggs Distinguished Professor of Systematic Theology at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. Dr. Cone probably is best known for his book, A Black Theology of Liberation, though he has authored several other books. Dr. Cone wrote that the lack of relevant and “risky” theology suggests that theologians are not able to free themselves from being oppressive structures of society and suggested an alternative. He believes it is evident that the main difficulty most whites have with Black Power and its compatible relationship to the Christian gospel stemmed from their own inability to translate non-traditional theology into the history of black people. The black man’s response to God’s act in Christ must be different from the whites because his life experiences are different, Dr. Cone believes. In the “black experience,” the author suggested that a powerful message of biblical theology is liberation from oppression.
In this article, Byars-Winston and Fouad, seeks to assess the importance of cultural factors and their impact on multicultural value of career counseling from the perspective of a counselor. The authors further examine the Culturally Appropriate Career Counseling Model and offer an expansion of the model through incorporating metacognitive processes. Culture is believed to play a significant role in one’s career decision making but the extent to which it does remains unknown. It is therefore imperative that career counselors try to understand
First, I will discuss the influences of different definitions of diversity in cultural unification. The major problem concerning this issue is that many people differ in the real meaning of the concept and how they view their personal involvement. Brook argues that “we do not really care about diversity all that much in America, even though we talk about it a great deal” (306). However, they are the general, erroneous interpretations of diversity that are really creating this wrong image of indifference. According to Kira Hudson Banks in her research entitled “A Qualitative Investigation of Students’ Perceptions of Diversity,” many people defined diversity as race and do not include other types of diversity (153).
These questions, and many more, have long been a part of the agenda for multicultural education but are recently coming more clearly into focus. Most of the work and studies in race relations and teaching in a multicultural environment in the U.S. have put an emphasis on the unique cultural experiences and perspectives of Black, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American groups. These are the groups that have historically been marginalized in various ways by the repeated asserted dominance by American people of European backgrounds. As the populations of the U.S. changes to take in even larger numbers of those groups...
The United States of America was once seen as the melting pot for many different ethnicities. However, the idea of assimilation became viewed as symbolically violent and because of this, the concept of multiculturalism was formed. According to The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology by Jill Stein and Kerry Ferris, multiculturalism is the encouragement of acceptance of cultural differences within a society instead of the forceful nature of eliminating other cultural ideas that are not the perceived “dominant” notions (G9). The question now is: How does our society go about making the difficult transition from totality through assimilation to diversity through multiculturalism? Henry Lewis Gates Jr. and Diane Ravitch would both argue that the best way to enforce multiculturalism is through the education system. They believe that through the instilment of these values from a young age, America has the potential to become a more accepting and diverse society. In Gates’ “The Debate Has Been Miscast from the Start” and Ravitch’s “Multiculturalism”, both authors take on the task of convincing their audience why multiculturalism is a positive addition to the curriculum in America’s schools rather than the negative policy that some make it out to be. Both articles are similar in that they use rhetorical questions to convince the reader that the pluralistic version of multiculturalism is a positive addition to America’s curriculum; however, Ravitch’s expansion of both sides of multiculturalism creates a more persuasive argument than Gates, who briefly discusses multiculturalism from his perspective.
Geneva Gay argues “It is a powerful way to expose students to ethnic groups, cultures and experiences different from their own to which they may not have access to in their daily lives… it helps students cross cultural borders and improve understanding of insider and outside perspective on cultural, ethnic and racial diversity” (Gay, 142). In Moving Beyond Tolerance in Multicultural Education by Sonia Nieto, a Professor Emerita of Language, Literacy, and Culture, School of Education in University of Massachusetts supports Geneva’s Gay statement regarding the purpose of multicultural education. In Nieto’s articles she begins by asking a school principal what multicultural education means to her and she answered ‘We want our students to develop tolerance of others…The greatest gift we can give our students is a tolerance for differences.’ Although Nieto believes, tolerance is important for multicultural education to succeed she wants multicultural education to go beyond accepting someone’s differences. Nieto wishes that multicultural education would introduced acceptance and respectfulness of diversity. “Acceptance implies that differences are acknowledge and their importance is neither denied nor belittled. It is at this level we see substantial movement toward multicultural education” (Nieto, 4). Ethnic studies can
Bloemraad, Irene. “The Debate Over Multiculturalism: Philosophy, Politics, and Policy.” www.migrationpolicy.org. September 22, 2011. Web.
Multiculturalism policy ensures people from different ethnic, racial, religious, and linguistic backgrounds coexist together. Ng, Eddy and Isabel affirmed that the strategic tolerance fostered through the policy enhance the development of a national identity centered around multiculturalism with much ado about citizenship and naturalization process (254). In the long-term, the policy reduces hostilities between the natives and immigrants. Durante Chris explained that, “As both a political philosophy and public policy, multiculturalism has become one of the leading approaches for coping with problems that arise when attempting to accommodate the needs of ethnic, cultural, and religious communities in a liberal democracy,” (323). In the long-term, the policy reduces hostilities between the natives and immigrants, thereby creating a society where cultural identity and ethnic diversity enjoys mutual respect and tolerance – suitable ingredients for social cohesion. Peace and harmony within a society prevails if each group feel respected and allowed to associate with their identity without prejudice. However, issues have risen in Canada where the natives feel immigrants are overburdening their them and introducing new cultures. If such situation is the case, multiculturalism could impact negatively on social
multiculturalism hype is not all it is cut out to be and segregates communities rather
ABSTRACT: John Searle opposes multiculturalism because he views it as part of a movement to undermine the concepts of truth and objectivity in the Western tradition. Richard Rorty disagrees with Searle about the relation between philosophical theories of truth and academic practices, but he is neutral on the issue of multiculturalism. Charles Taylor approaches the issue historically, defending multiculturalism as emerging from one branch of liberal political theory. I argue that the debate over epistemological and political issues has tended to obscure the educational benefits of multiculturalism. A multicultural curriculum works very well in fulfilling the traditional goals of education in philosophy. It can assist the teacher as Socratic "midwife" and "gadfly" in delivering students from their narrow and uncritical opinions and awakening them to a world of intellectual diversity. Thus, multiculturalism is not so much a recent movement as a new name for an old method of teaching.
Adapting a multicultural perspective includes maintaining a unique understanding of one’s own cultural background and biases, and continuously striving to work through them. In the article, “White Professors teaching About Racism: Challenges and Rewards,” Smith and colleagues sought to address the challenges that white educators face when instructing multicultural courses, and to provide them with useful techniques to incorporate into their educational pedagogies. These challenges stem from their racial class orientation and can be summarized as fitting into one of three categories: (a) multiculturalism perfectionism, (b) multicultural impostor syndrome, and (c) multicultural projections (Smith, Kashubeck-West, Payton1, & Adams, 2017). Together
In his article “The Failure of Multiculturalism”, Kenan Malik uses the diverse European culture to study and explain the irony of multiculturalism. He defines multiculturalism as “the embrace of an inclusive, diverse society” (Malik 21). Integration between cultures is practically inevitable, but several nations view this as a threat towards upholding their culture. Due to this, many countries have made attempts at properly integrating new people and ideas while trying to prevent the degradation of their own. This can result in unjust regulations and the reverse effect of an intended multicultural society.