Multiculturalism in Continental Europe

TEXT 1

Multiculturalism is seen by its supporters as a fairer system that allows people to truly express who they are within a society, that is more tolerant and that adapts better to social issues. They argue that in societies where ethnic groups have comparatively equal status, difference is tolerated better, e.g. Sweden, which has low income inequality. They also argue that multiculturalism is a better system because culture is always changing. For instance, the culture of the United Kingdom has not arisen from one ethnic group, but from the 'immigration' and influence of Anglo-Saxons (Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain), Vikings (Great Heathen Army), Normans (Norman conquest of England) and so on. Therefore, they argue, culture is not one definable thing based on one race or religion, but is the result of multiple factors that change as the world changes.

TEXT 2

Criticism of multiculturalism often debates whether the multicultural ideal of benignly co-existing cultures that interrelate and influence one another, and yet remain distinct, is sustainable, paradoxical or even desirable. Nation states that, in the case of many European nations, would previously have been synonymous with a distinctive cultural identity of their own, lose out to enforced multiculturalism and that this ultimately erodes the host nations distinct culture.

Other critics argue that multiculturalism leads directly to restrictions in the rights and freedoms for certain groups and that as such, it is bad for democracy, undemocratic and against universal human rights.

Harvard professor of political science Robert D. Putnam conducted a nearly decade long study how multiculturalism affects social trust. He surveyed 26,200 people in 40 American communities, finding that when the data were adjusted for class, income and other factors, the more racially diverse a community is, the greater the loss of trust. People in diverse communities "don’t trust the local mayor, they don’t trust the local paper, they don’t trust other people and they don’t trust institutions," writes Putnam. In the presence of such ethnic diversity, Putnam maintains that “We hunker down. We act like turtles. The effect of diversity is worse than had been imagined. And it’s not just that we don’t trust people who are not like us. In diverse communities, we don’t trust people who do look like us.”

Ethologist Frank Salter writes: “Relatively homogeneous societies invest more in public goods, indicating a higher level of public altruism. For example, the degree of ethnic homogeneity correlates with the government's share of gross domestic product as well as the average wealth of citizens. Case studies of the United States, Africa and South-East Asia find that multi-ethnic societies are less charitable and less able to cooperate to develop public infrastructure. Moscow beggars receive more gifts from fellow ethnics than from other ethnies. A recent multi-city study of municipal spending on public goods in the United States found that ethnically or racially diverse cities spend a smaller portion of their budgets and less per capita on public services than do the more homogenous cities.”

TEXT 3

Multiculturalism was adopted as official policy, in several Western nations from the 1970s onward, for reasons that varied from country to country. The great cities of the Western world are increasingly made of a mosaic of cultures.

Government multicultural policies may include:

· recognition of multiple citizenship (the multiple citizenship itself usually results from the nationality laws of another country)

· government support for newspapers, television, and radio in minority languages

· support for minority festivals, holidays, and celebrations

· acceptance of traditional and religious dress in schools, the military, and society in general

· support for music and arts from minority cultures

· programs to encourage minority representation in politics, Science, Engineering, Technology, Mathematics, education, and the work force in general.

· enforcement of different codes of law on members of each ethnic group (e.g. Malaysia enforces Shari'a law, but only for a particular ethnic group)

TEXT 4

Multiculturalism, as generally understood, refers to a theoretical approach and a number of policies adopted in Western nation-states, which had seemingly achieved a de facto single national identity during the 18th and/or 19th centuries. Many nation-states in Africa, Asia, and the Americas are culturally diverse, and are 'multi-cultural' in a descriptive sense. In some, communalism is a major political issue. The policies adopted by these states often have parallels with multiculturalist policies in the Western world, but the historical background is different, and the goal may be a mono-cultural or mono-ethnic nation-building - for instance in the Malaysian governments attempt to create a 'Malaysian race' by 2020.

TEXT 5

In the United States, multiculturalism is not clearly established in policy at the federal level. In the United States, continuous mass immigration had been a feature of economy and society since the first half of the 19th century. The absorption of the stream of immigrants became, in itself, a prominent feature of America's national myth. The idea of the Melting pot is a metaphor that implies that all the immigrant cultures are mixed and amalgamated without state intervention. The Melting Pot implied that each individual immigrant, and each group of immigrants, assimilated into American society at their own pace. An Americanized (and often stereotypical) version of the original nation's cuisine, and its holidays, survived. Note that the Melting Pot tradition co-exists with a belief in national unity, dating from the American founding fathers:

"Providence has been pleased to give this one connected country to one united people — a people descended from the same ancestors, speaking the same language, professing the same religion, attached to the same principles of government, very similar in their manners and customs... This country and this people seem to have been made for each other, and it appears as if it was the design of Providence, that an inheritance so proper and convenient for a band of brethren, united to each other by the strongest ties, should never be split into a number of unsocial, jealous, and alien sovereignties."

As a philosophy, multiculturalism began as part of the pragmatism movement at the end of the nineteenth century in Europe and the United States, then as political and cultural pluralism at the turn of the twentieth. It was partly in response to a new wave of European imperialism in sub-Saharan Africa and the massive immigration of Southern and Eastern Europeans to the United States and Latin America. Philosophers, psychologists and historians and early sociologists such as Charles Sanders Peirce, William James, George Santayana, Horace Kallen, John Dewey, W. E. B. Du Bois and Alain Locke developed concepts of cultural pluralism, from which emerged what we understand today as multiculturalism. In Pluralistic Universe (1909), William James espoused the idea of a "plural society." James saw pluralism as "crucial to the formation of philosophical and social humanism to help build a better, more egalitarian society.

Multicultural policies were adopted by local administrations from the 1970s and 1980s onwards, in particular, by the Labour government of Tony Blair. In national policy, legislation includes Race Relations Act and the British Nationality Act of 1948. Most of the immigrants of the last decades came from the Indian subcontinent or the Caribbean, i.e. from former British colonies. In 2004 the number of people who became British citizens rose to a record 140,795 — a rise of 12% on the previous year. This number had risen dramatically since 2000. The overwhelming majority of new citizens come from Africa (32%) and Asia (40%), the largest three groups being people from Pakistan, India and Somalia.

In the Western English-speaking countries, multiculturalism as an official national policy started in Canada in 1971, followed by Australia in 1973. It was quickly adopted as official policy by most member-states of the European Union. Recently, right-of-center governments in several European states—notably the Netherlands and Denmark— have reversed the national policy and returned to an official monoculturalism. A similar reversal is the subject of debate in the United Kingdom, among others, due to evidence of incipient segregation and anxieties over "home-grown" terrorism.

TEXT 6

Historically, Europe has always been polycultural--a mixture of Latin, Slavic, Germanic and Celtic cultures influenced by the importation of Hebraic, Hellenic and even Muslim belief systems; although the continent was supposedly unified by the super-position of Roman Catholic Christianity, it is accepted that geographic and cultural differences continued from antiquity into the modern age.

Especially in the 19th century, the ideology of nationalism transformed the way Europeans thought about the state. Existing states were broken up and new ones created; the new nation-states were founded on the principle that each nation is entitled to its own sovereign state and to engender, protect, and preserve its own unique culture and history. Unity, under this ideology, is seen as an essential feature of the nation and the nation-state - unity of descent, unity of culture, unity of language, and often unity of religion. The nation-state constitutes a culturally homogeneous society, although some national movements recognized regional differences.

Where cultural unity was insufficient, it was encouraged and enforced by the state. The 19th-century nation-states developed an array of policies - the most important was compulsory primary education in the national language. The language itself was often standardized by a linguistic academy, and regional languages were ignored or suppressed. Some nation-states pursued violent policies of cultural assimilation and even ethnic cleansing.

Some European Union countries have introduced policies for "social cohesion", "integration", and (sometimes) "assimilation". They are sometimes a direct reversal of earlier multiculturalist policies, and seek to assimilate immigrant minorities and restore a de facto mono-cultural society. The policies include:

· compulsory courses and/or tests on national history, on the constitution and the legal system (e.g., the computer-based test for individuals seeking naturalization in the UK named Life in the United Kingdom test)

· introduction of an official national history, such as the national canon defined for the Netherlands by the van Oostrom Commission, and promotion of that history (e.g., by exhibitions about national heroes)

· tests designed to elicit "unacceptable" values. In Baden-Württemberg immigrants are asked what they would do if their son says he is a homosexual. (The expected answer is that they would accept it).

· prohibitions on Islamic dress — especially the niqab (often misnamed as burqa).

Discussion and writing:

1. Answer the following questions:

· What is Multiculturalism?

· How have Black power, feminist & gay pride movement challenged the idea of Multiculturalism?

· What was the effect of the implosion of Yugoslavia?

· What may government multicultural policies include?

· What is Melting Pot?

2. Expand on the multicultural ideas of the following people:

· John Rawls

· Robert D. Punam

· Frank Salter

· E. B. Du Bois & Alain Locke

3. Use different sources and find the information about the creation of “Malaysian race”.

4. Summarize the texts in three paragraphs specifying the following themes:

a) multiculturalism: the notion, its history & ideas.

b) positive and negative features of multiculturalism.

c) multicultural policies in different countries of the world.

LESSON 3

MULTICULTURALISM: ROUND-TABLE DISCUSSION

1) What springs to mind when you hear the word ‘multiculturalism’?

2) What are the good things about multiculturalism?

3) Is it possible for a country to avoid multiculturalism today?

4) How would the world be different if there was no multiculturalism in any country?

5) Do you think multiculturalism will eventually lead to a single world mixed race?

6) Why are many people afraid of multiculturalism?

7) Where in the world do you think multiculturalism works best?

8) Do you think multiculturalism can ever be reversed?

9) Do you think the original culture of a society that has become multicultural like the change?

10) Is multiculturalism good for world peace and understanding?

11) Do you think elementary school children in multicultural classes give a lot of thought to multiculturalism?

12) Would you prefer your country to be multicultural or of just one culture?

13)Can multiculturalism result in a country losing its identity?

14) Is multiculturalism really another form of racism?

15) In a multicultural society, should newcomers do what they can to assimilate into the culture of their new country?

16) Is multiculturalism a threat to some countries / your country?

Translate the following:

Нагадаємо деякі визначення мультикультуралізму, які найчастіше зустрічаються у сучасній науковій літературі. Термін „мультикультуралізм” з’явився в кінці 80-х років ХХ ст. Він означав поважне ставлення більшості до меншин, рівний статус різних культурних традицій, право індивідів на вибір своєї ідентичності. В мультикультурному суспільстві людина зберігає свою ідентичність попри впливи з боку інших культур. Аналіз основних соціально значущих компонентів культури (пізнавальних, нормативно-ціннісних, оціночних, поведінкових та ін.) показує, що кожен індивід може належати до кількох культур, і що представники меншин можуть повноцінно інтегрувати в суспільство, зберігаючи хоча б частково сукупність власних етнокультурних, психічних, ціннісних та інших специфічних національно зумовлених ознак. Мультикультуралізм означає співіснування в єдиному політичному суспільстві кількох помітних (видимих) культурних груп, які бажають і, в принципі, здатні відтворювати свою специфічну ідентичність. Таке визначення мультикультуралізму є дескриптивним, або описовим. В дескриптивному розумінні більшість сучасних країн є мультикультурними.

Наявність етнокультурної та мовної розмаїтості ще не є підставою для визнання суспільства мультикультурним в цілому. Для цього необхідно, щоб поряд з дескриптивними ознаками мультикультуралізму були наявні ще й нормативні. Нормативний аспект мультикультуралізму полягає у піклуванні держави про права, гідність і добробут усіх її громадян незалежно від їх етнічного, расового походження, віросповідання, мови тощо. Нормативний підхід стверджує виправданість і необхідність для сучасних суспільств докладати зусиль в напрямку підтримки й сприяння матеріальному й духовному процвітанню різних культурних груп, а також поваги до їх ідентичності.

Отже, мультикультуралізм – це стан, процеси, погляди, політика культурно неоднорідного суспільства, орієнтовані на свободу вираження культурного досвіду, визнання культурного різноманіття; культурний, політичний, ідеологічний, релігійний плюралізм, визнання прав меншин як на суспільному, так і на державному.

UNIT 3

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