24 - Multiculturalism

Question 1

Common set of rights and duties for all citizens

Answer 1

1) Civil rights
2) Political rights
3) Socioeconomic rights

Question 2

What is citizenship?

Answer 2

-The gradual expansion of the class of citizens
-From: property
owning protestant men
-To: working class men,
catholics, jews,
women, blacks, and
others

Question 3

What is multiculturalism?

Answer 3

• Cultural diversity of modern societies
• Challenging the idea of the “normal” citizen
• World becoming more diverse, very few nations left

Question 4

What does multiculturalism reject?

Answer 4

• Exclusion: Keeping non-white minorities out
• Assimilation: Forcing compliance with majority norms and practices
• Marginalization: Forcing indigenous peoples onto reserves or to give up their traditional way of life
• Silencing: Institutionalizing the disabled, criminalizing homosexuals

Question 5

What does multiculturalism seek?

Answer 5

-More inclusive understanding of citizenship
-From coercion and
paternalism to consent
and autonomy
-Recognize a plurality of identities
-Integration rather than
assimilation
-Accommodate differences

Question 6

Politics of recognition - three approaches to social advancement

Answer 6

1) Republicanism: equal legal and political rights
2) Redistribution: social rights and equal opportunity
3) Recognition: endorsing cultural difference

Question 7

3 types of minority rights

Answer 7

1) Self-government rights for national minorities (e.g. Bloc Quebecois) and indigenous peoples (e.g. first nations) as a response to majority nation building
2) Polyethnic rights for ethnic groups and religious minorities: exemptions and public fundings
3) Special representation rights in public institutions

Question 8

Arguments against multiculturalism

Answer 8

• Ghettoization: retreat into ethnic enclaves
• Emphasizes citizens’ differences rather than commonalities
• Danger of internal restrictions: violating the rights of individuals

Question 9

Arguments for multiculturalism

Answer 9

• Provides external protections from the dominant culture for ethnocultural minorities
• Freedom for individuals within groups, equality between groups
• Can create a reliable commitment to the welfare state, therefore no ghettoization
• Integration on fair terms: inclusion of all as equals