Talk:Multiculturalism
From Academic Kids
From Mercurius: I removed this External Link because I don't think this links to an authoratative source. Also, the article barely touches on Multiculturalism in Australia, so it would make sense to leave this out until there is more Australia-related content in this article.
- PhotoSydney: Multiculturalism (http://photosydney.blogspot.com/2004/12/very-good-noodles.html) examines the changes in Australian society due to multiculturalism since the 1970s, drawing on the case of the Sydney suburb of Eastwood. '
Agree the article needs a lot of work and I hope to do this soon as I am researching multiculturalism at the University of Sydney.
From Voivod:
- Multiculturalsim is a mixbag of 1)elite-group chartered relations (Toryism), 2)popular, civil society tribalism, 3)post-material reactions to neoconservative "monoculturalism", 4)traditionalism and mutual, ethnocentric rejections, 5)Orientalist fetishism and 5)pluralist attempt to distract the civil society from real issues.
See Also Inter-faithism
This article badly needs more NPOV. There is a general democratic ideal that says everyone and of every background has equal rights. There is also, however, a more politically focussed belief that concentrates on one set of minorities taken to be "naturally leftist" to the exclusion of others. This article concentrates on the latter viewpoint.
In the US, for instance, attempts are frequently made to directly exclude conservatives of Latin Americans or African-American background as Uncle Toms and it is rare that celebrations of diversity include, say, gypsies, French Canadians, or rural whites.
This article also excludes what might be called "cultural multiculturalism", such as world music, the proliferation of Thai restaurants, inclusive conventions like "tokens", etc. In all, this is still a pretty unsophisticated article, Ortolan88
Removed this paragraph:
- multiculturalism (not all people perceive "multiculturalism" in terms of "their own" "family" "traditions" and "beliefs" and "multiculturalism" certainly serves vastly different fuctions for different social or ethnic/racial groups). It is also experienced and viewed by different individuals with different degrees of committment, attachment and enthusiasm. It is interpreted by different political ideologies to have vastly different policy significances. In other words, can't take consensus, or authoritative views for granted.
it seems just full of generalities, and the author did not make effort to integrate it in the article. Or maybe was it just misplaced talk. --FvdP
It has come to my attention that pluralism is not a real issue, but a distraction from real issues (such as?)
Would it be correct to say that "multiculturalism" is the opposite of "ethnic nationalism"?
The article as it stands doesn't seem to touch on how multiculturalism is inconsistent with and presents a challenge to traditional nation states (which are by definition culturally discriminatory).
I think this article badly need a re-write, but I want to make sure we all agree on what "multiculturalism" is before I start. - stewacide
The Ed Poor rewrite
Sorry, I took a stab at it before discussing anything here, but I'll try to address Ortolan and Stewacide's points.
America is torn between (a) embracing lots of different cultures and (b) promoting a clear standard of right and wrong. There is a view that "all cultures are equally good" which presumably means that cannibals from primitive are on the same level as America's founding fathers. This touches on the philosophical issue of "relativism", here meaning the doctrine that no one is ever in a position to say that anything is right or wrong since there is no absolute right or wrong".
Some of the bullet points from the previous version ought to be brought back into the article (gently, slowly!) -- but as paragraphs. I wouldn't like to see a hodgepodge, because that's not an article. It's not even a good outline.
I'm not saying my version is the best possible one, just that it's a valid starting point; the previous version was junk. At best, it described one POV; but it didn't even do that well. So I started with the viewpoint -- the identified and attributed POV -- of a recognized scholar.
If someone wants to add a Marxian analysis; or a "liberal viewpoint"; or a "right-wing" view from someone like Bill O'Reilly or Patrick Buchanan; or any of several spokesmen or -women from the Democratic Party, good! Please add clearly identified POVs to the article!! I'm just using Ravitch as a stub: I don't pretend she's objective or neutral. --Uncle Ed 17:15, 23 Sep 2003 (UTC)
Perhaps this article could include something about Singapore. It seems to me (a student in Singapore) that the government here places great importance on multiculturalism and racial harmony, to the point of organising "Inter-racial walks" and "Inter-racial Confidence Circles (IRCCs)" after a few Jemaah Islamiah members were arrested by the authorities. There are Racial Harmony Days every year, festivals associated with the dominant cultures in Singapore are celebrated in schools and in grassroots organisations. I cannot think of another country where multiculturalism is such a fundamental consideration in national policy. --Maycontainpeanuts
- I think we need to make the distinction between the laissez faire multiculturalism of the US, Canada, and Australia, which for the most part is a policy of a-culturalism (i.e. not promoteing any official culture), vs. the "multiculturalism" of a country like Singapore which is equivalent to old-style Canadian bi-culturalism. -- stewacide 09:03, Aug 27, 2004 (UTC)
- Good point. -- Mathieugp 14:26, 27 Aug 2004 (UTC)
- So, any idea how they be distinguished in the article? Is there a term for the "multiculturalism" of countries like Singapore, China, UK, Belgium, etc? Pluralistic nationalism maybe? In other words what is the generalized (non-number-specific) term for what the article describes in the origin section as biculturalism? -- stewacide 17:02, Aug 27, 2004 (UTC)
Separate out states
I think the big problem with this article is two-fold. Firstly multiculturalism is understood in entirely different ways in different states. Secondly, even within those states there is no consensus among thinkers as to what multiculturalism means. So, taking the UK as an example, the leftwing head of the race equality body says he now opposes multiculturalism, but there are many on the political right who still accept it as a valid and successful element of modern Britain. I suggest that the article be rewritten with a general introduction on the history of the word and its place in modern social policy before splitting out into more comprehensive articles on each of the key nations where debates are continuing - America, Canada, UK, Germany, France and Italy to name but a few.
Removed line
I removed "California drivers can take their exams in a number of languages, something no Canadian province or Australian state permits." I do not known for certain, but I would be very surprised if driver's tests are not available in both French and English in some Canadian provinces. - SimonP 03:50, Jan 13, 2005 (UTC)
