Muliculturalism Flashcards

Question

Why do liberal MCs oppose total assimilation (agreeing with other strands)

Answer 1

Believe assimilation perpetuates inequality by denying minority groups the freedom to express their identity (e.g. unilingual policies disallow those who speak other languages full freedom of expression). This is why Kymlicka was so pro-minority rights of french Canadian groups who didn’t predominantly speak English

Answer 2

Believe that assimilation ignores the importance of culture, breeding alienation and tension by imposing a hatred of oneself and of other who oppress you. (Link back to Taylor) HOWEVER Modood believes full assimilation is permissible IF the individual has given consent to do so

Answer 3

Believe full assimilation ignores inclusivity and undermines social harmony by extricating society of cross cultural exchange that is needed to achieve hybridisation. Assimilation suggests one culture is better than another and so should be totally taken on, which opposes their values of cultural mixing.

Answer 4

Have different views on them ways in which minority cultures can integrate into a society with a different dominant culture

Answer 5

Believe in individualist integration, where in the public realm everyone has a shared civic culture and in the private realm people are free to practice their own culture however they please. This creates a platform for hyphenated cultures (e.g. African-American, Italian-American). An extreme version of this is seen in the french policy of laicite (secularism), in which everyone is publicly secular but privately free to practice religion

Answer 6

Successful integration comes from totally preserving cultural difference and recognising that no one culture is superior (value pluralism of Berlin and also iterated by Parekh). Modood believed this can be achieved by pluralising the national narrative to include minority groups. For the more extreme pluralist, a particularist multiculturalist would encourage cultural purity in which there is no cultural exchange, as this maximises the preservation of minority cultures by preventing the dominant group tainting or diluting them through imbalanced exchange. Liberals may criticise this as creating a platform for plural monoculturalism in which there is not cultural overlap (Amartya Sen)

Answer 7

Believe cultural mixing is the approach to be celebrated, creating hybridised identities and eventual global citizenship. This is criticised by pluralists as failing to celebrate the differences between cultures and their distinct characteristics

Answer 8

Assimilation is the only way to preserve a common national identity so social cohesion would be undermined by cultural separation

Answer 9

All strands agree that minority rights need to be embraced to promote integration and uphold a political of recognition

Answer 10

Kymlicka recognised that the state has a responsibility to afford group differentiated rights to minority groups because formal equality is insufficient in ensuring everyone in society is equal and on the same footing, so historically oppressed groups need extra rights to ensure social cohesion

Answer 11

-self government rights to indigenous people (e.g. those given to Māoris in NZ and native Americans/ Canadians) -polyethnic rights helping minorities self assert despite policies established by the dominant culture (e.g. animal slaughter law exemptions for Jews and Muslims, Sikh exemption from motorbike helmets so they can wear turbans etc) -representation rights, especially in education and the political system (e.g. positive discrimination)

Answer 12

Disagreement on the extent to which minority rights should be implemented

Answer 13

Liberals believe minority rights exist to preserve individual autonomy so must fit within a liberal framework. Again, these rights cannot extend to protect illiberal practices.

Answer 14

Believe minority rights are a fundamental component of a multicultural society and should be extended as widely as possible. To the extreme, particularist MCs believe minority rights are imperative in redressing the historical oppression face by minority groups as a product of colonialism.

Answer 15

Believe minority rights are instrumentally (important now) useful in redressing immediate minority injustice, however they will eventually be nullified as the end goal is for there to be no minority culture as cosmopolitan integration will lead to everyone becoming hybridised.

Answer 16

Minority rights are inherently unfair as positive discrimination affords special privileges to certain groups, they promote division in society and undermine the need for a common culture

Answer 17

All strands agree that culture is important for human identity by providing the prism through which the external world becomes meaningful (a lens that shapes how one sees the world)

Answer 18

Liberals believe that our choices are shaped by the cultural context in which we exist. Thus, to be autonomous we need culture to provide a meaningful “context of choice” (Kymlicka)

Answer 19

Pluralists believe in communitarianism, meaning humans are culturally embedded and out identity is shared by our culture, as parekh said, culture has “profoundly shaped our identities”

Answer 20

Culture is important because people value culture to be able to make decisions and carry out certain practices. Cross cultural exchange allows for the transfer of these ideas, meaning everyone in society is even better informed on other cultures and what matters most to them. “Culture matters because people matter and culture matters to people” (Kwame Anthony Appiah)

Answer 21

The strands disagree on the nature of cultural identity and the extent to which culture should be publicly acknowledged

Answer 22

Liberals believe culture is seen as a private matter that isn’t relevant to the public realm or to the state so long as your civic consciousness is strong (state don’t need to intervene in your private life but everyone should publicly have a shared civic identity)

Answer 23

For the sake of one’s identity, culture needs to be fully recognised, as any rejection of culture in public and private can leave a “grievous wound” (Taylor)

Answer 24

Believe that cultures are malleable, with cultural mixing allowing people to create a new, hybridised identity instead of recognising the discrete differences between cultures.

Answer 25

Humans are psychologically imperfect, so a common cultural identity is required for stability in society

Answer 26

Most strands agree that there is value in cross cultural dialogue in being able to promote inclusivity in society

Answer 27

Modood said that cross cultural dialogue fosters understanding between different groups, promoting social cohesion by eroding unfair stereotypes some groups may have of others and creating an opportunity to resolve conflict between groups

Answer 28

The strands disagree on the ways in which cultures should be shared

Answer 29

Liberals believe that culture sharing should only take place within the limits of a liberal democracy. This links to their advocacy of shallow diversity, as we are all bound by the shared social value system that is liberalism

Answer 30

Pluralists believe that cultures should be understood on their own terms due to a belief in deep diversity iterated by Parekh. To the most extreme, particularist MCs encourage cultural purity and thus limited cultural exchange, as there is suspicion towards engagement with the dominant culture due to its corrupting influence (again linking to their disdain for integration and assimilation)

Answer 31

Believe that cultural exchange is imperative , because to create a melting pot society individuals need to be able to pick and choose different cultural elements they most closely align with. Culture is fluid and responsive to changing social circumstances, so dialogue between cultures ensures there is no conflict and plenty of opportunity to hybridise.