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.
Multiculturalism has become a way for nations to implement foreigners into their lives; however, Malik believes that countries are taking
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It would be nice to allow people to adhere to their own styles, but doing that excludes them from the already existing nation’s practices. On the other hand, requiring immigrants to completely conform to society, will result in taking away all of their beliefs. According to Malik, “‘multicultural’ has come to define both a society that is particularly diverse, usually as a result of immigration, and the policies necessary to manage such a society” (22). With the immigration that European nations have faced, there is undoubtedly diverse culture present, but the policy aspect of that multicultural definition still needs to be redefined in order to create a balance between diversity and inclusion within …show more content…
The first is that diversity should be viewed as simply the past that someone was brought up with. This universalizes diversity in the sense that everyone, no matter what, has a different story, and we are all able to accept it and learn from it. His second suggestion is that “Europe should distinguish colorblindness from blindness to racism” (32); this advice highlights the fact that color and race are two different things that should be treated differently. Lastly Malik suggests that people and values should be differentiated. This way, people can be judged for who they really
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.
In the article, “Multiculturalism: Battleground or Meeting Ground,” Takaki starts out addressing the difference in philosophy between him and Woodward when it comes to cultural diversity. Woodward strongly disagrees with Takaki when it comes to the topic of cultural diversity. They both are seeing issue threw two difference lens. Woodward attacked Takaki on the issue when Woodward reviewed Takaki’s “Iron Cages: Rave and Culture in Nineteeth-Century America” book in the “New York Review of Books,” saying it was too narrow in focus (Takaki, n.d). Woodward rebuttal was that the book did not contain any balance, and should have touched on “national issues” to have that balance and not just the American south. Woodward even said that Takaki was
It is true that the more people from different cultures that are in a given area, the more the cultures are diversified. However, with all realities, some claim that immigrants dilute the American culture. Indeed, they cause some changes to the culture. Nevertheless, these changes can bring a wealth of attraction and a source of beauty for the country that everyone should be proud of. It is obvious that every single immigrant in the US has his own culture and way of life. When all these are added together, they form a very rich culture. In addition, they bring various interesting aspects such as food, music, literature, etc. That makes the Americans rich in cultural knowledge. The importance of cultural diversity is that it teaches the people to understand each other’s views, interests, and ideas and helps people view the world in different ways. This would finally lead the society to work towards each other’s interest, mutual goals, and objectives. Tamar Jacoby in his article “Are Today’s Immigrants Assimilating in U.S Society, Yes,” he said that, “Those who are coming now are people who understand cultural fluidity, understand intermarriage and find that a natural, easy thing. This maintains unity and balances in the society” (411). Once this stage is reached, all the problems would be solved. Then it can be said that America has reached a true democracy, echoed by
Meanwhile, multiculturalism in the United States has been part of their history, considering the fact that almost all its populations, including its founders are immigrants coming from different cultural backgrounds (Citrin, 2001). Due to globalization, there is no reason why other immigrants and new ethnic groups could have difficulty assimilating themselves into American life.
In his article, ‘One Nation, One of Many’ he claims that lack of shared values in a multicultural society will pose a threat to ‘America’ as an entity. He shows evidence of this by giving statistical data of the number of immigrants who have come into the country over the years. And he has gave data from surveys on the political and cultural fragmentation that have occurred since the influx in the early 1960s. He further supports his claim by suggesting that the elite and popular opinion should find a middle ground so that the immigration crisis can be
Bloemraad, Irene. “The Debate Over Multiculturalism: Philosophy, Politics, and Policy.” www.migrationpolicy.org. September 22, 2011. Web.
Banting noted that some Canadians fear multiculturalism will bring, “…challenges to historic cultures, anxieties about Islam, and fears about insecurity,” (797). As people migrate from one cultural or religious backgrounds, maintaining the identity of the host country becomes difficult. Young children born interact with the immigrants and they could easily emulate foreign cultures thereby putting the historic cultural identity of Canadians at risk of erosion. Winter Elke warned that multiculturalism is changing to give too much preference to the immigrants thereby risking it to become a minority affair (638). Therefore, the relationship between national the majority of Canadians and immigrants need rethinking. Erosion of other cultures as immigrants introduce new ways or adapt to the cultures of the host county (Canada). Furthermore, education of the immigrants could face challenges if they experience difficulty settling in Canada. Given that immigrants later work in Canada, the human resource sector faces a new challenge of managing a diversified workforce, which can create headache for Canadian employers. Banting indicated that there is, “a strong sense that multiculturalism policies have “failed” a reaction that is strongest perhaps in the Netherlands, but is felt in many other countries as well,” (797). Such assertions only fuel resentment towards
multiculturalism hype is not all it is cut out to be and segregates communities rather
Multiculturalism is the ethnic and cultural diversity that exists within a certain area. Different countries display various forms of multiculturalism. The most common form of multiculturalism is whereby a citizen of a certain country is born overseas, or of the parents of the individual is born overseas. English speaking countries have a lot of multiculturalism in them. Just like the United Kingdom, Australia has adopted multiculturalism as a national identity. My essay explores how Australia appreciates and accepts many different ethnicities and cultures.
The 1978 implementation of Australia's multiculturalism policy was founded on the principles social cohesion. This calls for individuals to assimilate and share the same values dictated by the Australian Constitution. This has been critical in assimilating migrants to educate them with the country’s values and norms and protect minority groups from discrimination (Department of Social Services, 2015). Whilst the Australian Government’s multicultural program has been coined as the best in the world, many analyst argue that it does not really reflect diverse ethnicities as a majority of migrants have been from Anglo-Celtic. In fact, Sir James Gobbo AC, Chairman, Australian Multicultural Foundation, Australia (2014), claims its difficult to exist assess whoever the program is successful because it is in its infancy and has not had to deal with complex issues such as extreme religious diversity and cultural difference.
(I) It is appropriate to distinguish between two types of multicultural societies-the traditional and the modern. In traditional societies, several ethnic groups may have lived together, which, despite their differences, basically belonged to the same civilisation. In countries which belong in the European civilisation, for instance, English and Scots, French and Bretons have li...
...s are only able to stay in poor accommodation, a kind of ghetto formation would be inevitable, therefore the native people find the foreign nationals as an even greater threat. In addition to this social integration is the cultural imperative. Of course you cannot reach the one without the other. Cultural integration is not the complete assimilation of immigrants but can be defined as accepting of cultural differences while agreeing on a common culture (common language, common education, ...). At the end of my essay I would like to mention that we should all fight against racism. Through the isolation of an ethnic group from the other, we prevent that "fresh blood flows into this”. Therefore a degeneration process is inevitable. We should also battle against it, because racism is definitely against the top human rights and it is also a danger for the whole humanity.
The greatest example of multiculturalism today is the world of electronic dance music festivals, and music festivals in general. These large festivals attract crowds well over 100,000 attendees, many of which are from all different types of backgrounds. For example, Electronic Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas, Nevada which is held annually every June, attracts hundreds of thousands of individuals all coming together to celebrate their love of dance music. At Electronic Daisy Carnival or EDC as it is known, no judgments are passed on people for any reason such as race, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic background, or age. Everyone that attends is treated with love and respect. Many people who attend these festivals have a motto that they base their actions on known as P.L.U.R. which stands for peace, love, unity, and respect. You treat others with love kindness and respect in order to have unity, not many other places or events can boast that this type of interaction amongst individuals can be achieved. At EDC everyone is treated as equals, no one group who feels that they are better than another group for any reason. Unfortunately, in other aspects of our society there is an emphasis on seeing the differences in one another, which divides people instead of bringing them closer to help achieve a multicultural world. The unfortunate
This research project is centered upon the idea that individuals, specifically those in second and third world countries, need to protect their cultural identity by combating the imperialism of western, dominant cultures. According to research, some reasons behind this imperialism are war, totalitarianism, tourism, the need to fit in, peer pressure, immigration, and globalization. These reasons are prevalent in today’s society and can be seen worldwide. Some solutions to the problem that I found in my research are to create a multicultural society that embraces diversity, encouraging a multilingual society along with preserving dying languages, and protecting smaller villages and towns from tourism, industrialization, and globalization. While