Multiculturalism

Published on July 7, 2004 By David St Hubbins In Politics

From WikiPedia, the online encycolpedia:

Link

Multiculturalism or cultural pluralism is a policy, ideal, or reality that emphasizes the unique characteristics of different cultures in the world, especially as they relate to one another in immigrant receiving nations. The term was coined in Canada in the 1960s, but has since spread around the world.

In dealing with immigrants groups and their cultures, there are essentially three approaches-

Monoculturalism: In most Old World nations, culture is very closely linked to nationalism, thus government policy is to assimilate immigrants. France, for example is very concerned about immigrant groups adopting French culture.

Melting Pot: In the United States the traditional view has been for a Melting Pot where all the world's cultures are peacefully mixed and amalgamated.

Multiculturalism: a view that immigrants, and others, should preserve their cultures and the different cultures should interact peacefully within one nation. Today, this is the official policy of Canada and Australia.

The word grew out of Biculturalism, which had long been Canada's official policy to deal with the differences between the English-speaking majority and substantial French-speaking minority. In the 1960s, the biculturalist view was challenged by groups as diverse as First Nations and Chinese immigrants and this counter opinion was termed "multiculturalist". Under Pierre Trudeau in 1971, the nation moved to an official policy geared towards multiculturalism. This policy has been supported by every subsequent government and was added to Canada's 1982 constitution.

Comments

No one has commented on this article. Be the first!

Welcome Guest! Please take the time to register with us.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:

Richer content, access to many features that are disabled for guests like commenting on the forums.
Access to a great community, with a massive database of many, many areas of interest.
Access to contests & subscription offers like exclusive emails.
It's simple, and FREE!