Towards ‘post-multiculturalism’?
Prof. Dr. Steven VertovecMax-Planck-Institute for the Study of
Religious and Ethnic Diversity
Towards ‘post-multiculturalism’?
1. Multiculturalism2. Challenges to multiculturalism3. In response: policies & public opinion4. ‘Post-multiculturalism’?
-- copy of powerpoint from [email protected]
I. Multiculturalism and immigration
• from 1970s…• Corrective to Assimilation• Policies/Structures meant to: Ensure
equality, respect, tolerance Enable
continuity of traditions and identities
Structures of Multiculturalism
• Representation in local forums (‘community leaders’)
• Public support for community associations, activities
• Culturally sensitive service provision (in schools, healthcare, policing, social work, courts, etc.)-- based on ‘corporatist’ model of
ethnic groups
Multiculturalism in public policy I
• Public ‘recognition’: support for organizations, facilities, activities; consultative bodies
• Education: dress & gender issues; sensitive & promotional curricula; mother tongue teaching & language support; own schools
Providing public materials in multiple languages (e.g. health promotion)
Multiculturalismin public policy II• Law: e.g. exceptions; oaths; marriage/divorce;
inheritance; protection from discrimination & incitement to hatred
• Religious accommodation: places of worship; cemeteries and funerary rites; time-off for worship
• Food: ritual slaughter, provision in public institutions
• Broadcasting & media: positive images; own facilities
By early 1990sMulticulturalism everywhere…
• Multicultural Mathematics (1993)• Medical Practice in a Multicultural Society (1988)• Dance: A Multicultural Perspective (1986)• Multicultural Pharmaceutical Education (1993)• Counselling and Psychotherapy: Multicultural Perspective (1993)• Managing Substance Abuse in a Multicultural Society (1994)• Marginality: The Key to Multicultural Theology (1995)• Marketing in a Multicultural World (1995)• Multiculturalism: Criminal Law (1991)• Multicultural Public Relations (1995)• Multicultural Manners: New Rules of Etiquette (1995)
• Nathan Glazer: ‘We are all Multiculturalists Now’ (1997)
2. Challenges to Multiculturalism
Socio-economic indicatorsLow educational attainment high unemployment poor jobs low income bad quality housing extreme segregation highest rate of ill health largest households little social mobility
Multiculturalism as failing? Unemployment – Germany, 2002-3
Challenges…New immigration– Too many, too fast, too diverse?
Challenges…
‘Islamophobia’• Islam is seen as monolithic, static, ahistorical• Assumed incommensurable values, unassimilable group• Seen as inferior, irrational, sexist• Considered violent, demanding, threatening
Multiculturalism as ‘pandering’ to Muslims?
Challenges…
‘parallel societies’?• residential segregation, • effectively separate schools, • different places of worship, • disparate community associations, • discrete social networks, • discrete places of leisure
Multiculturalism as creating these?
Challenges…
• Security concerns– Difference & dissatisfaction
disparity & alienation leading to extremism, conflict or terrorism?
Multiculturalism as creating context for this?
Challenges…
Public discourse: turn against diversity?
suggests Multiculturalism = accentuated/preserved difference; separateness social breakdown
• no common values?• ‘political correctness’
3. In response to such challenges, new political calls for:
integrationsense of common citizenship
shared values strengthened civic/national identity
social cohesion immigration limits
... and especially, rejecting ‘multiculturalism’
New policy initiatives:Integration and Cohesion
– Citizenship in school curricula– Classes for immigrants
-- history, customs, services– Stress on language acquisition– Citizenship tests: Knowledge based? – Ceremonies for new citizens– Citizenship/Integration Day– Gesinnungstest?
But what is an immigrant supposed to integrate into, and when is the process completed?
‘M[ulticulturalism]-word’ out, integration and cohesion in…
• But ‘diversity’ still very much in policy aims• And few ‘M-word’ policies/structures have actually
been dismantled – especially on local level
What are the effects of recent years of anti-multiculturalism public discourse on public opinions regarding immigrants and ethnic diversity?
European Commission Eurobarometer 2007:
‘Almost three-quarters of EU citizens believe that people with a different background (ethnic, religious or national)
enrich the cultural life of their country’
European Commission Eurobarometer 2007:
‘Day-to-day interaction among people belonging to different cultures is a reality in Europe’
European Commission Eurobarometer 2007:
‘Random encounters in public are most typical. ...over half (53%) of the intercultural exchanges took place in a public space (while out walking in the street, while shopping, etc).’
‘Integration’ in urban life –fleeting encounters
• Ephemeral, but may be regular
• Shared meanings, values, cooperation: expected, acceptable behaviour; ‘principles for stranger interaction’
• Basic, unspoken modes of civility: competence in everyday conventions of interaction – including ‘indifference to diversity’
4. ‘post-multiculturalism’?
Much anti-mulcultulturalism in public discourseyet…
• National policies have only slightly changed– More ‘integration’, but still strong on ‘diversity’– No ‘return to assimilation’
• Local policies have hardly changed– Perhaps more ‘inter-culturalism’, but not new idea
• Public opinion hasn’t gotten worse– If anything, (surprisingly?) better
Concluding remarkSocial cohesion and national identity can coexist
with • a valuing of diversity in the public sphere, • programmes to recognize and support cultural
traditions, and • institutional structures to provide ethnic
minority community representation – all without reference to ‘the M-word’
Max-Planck-Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity
Max-Planck-Institut zur Erforschung multireligiöser und multiethnischer Gesellschaften
Hermann-Föge-Weg 11, D-37073 Göttingen, Germanytel. +49/0 551 4956-0, fax +49/0 551 4956-111
www.mmg.mpg.de
