DIFFERENT DIMENSIONS OF MULTICULTURALISM

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• DIFFERENT DIMENSIONS OF MULTICULTURALISM
• Ioana Bordeianu
• Border Police School
• ORADEA- ROMANIA
• ioanabordeianu_at_hotmail.com

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We never look beyond our assumptions and what's
worse, we have given up trying to meet others we
just meet ourselves. ? Muriel Barbery
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1. What is multiculturalism?
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DEFINITION

• Relating to or containing several cultural or
  ethnic groups within a society (Oxford
  Dictionary)
• the acknowledgement and promotion of cultural
  pluralism as a feature of many societies ()
  multiculturalism celebrates and seeks to protect
  cultural variety.
• Harper Collins Dictionary of Sociology- 1991

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a.Concept

• As a general rule, the concept of
  multiculturalism has been defined in two
  different ways
• as a descriptive concept
• as a policy for responding to cultural diversity
• (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

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Worldwide cultural diversity is a plus?
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b. Policy

• It refers to the different normative challenges
  that arise from minority groups as a result of
  cultural diversity.

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2.Multiculturalism and sociology

• In sociology, multiculturalism is the view that
  cultural differences should be respected or even
  encouraged.
• Sociologists use the concept of multiculturalism
  to describe one way of approaching cultural
  diversity within a society

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Nowadays background

• In the 21st century most of countries are having
  a mixture of citizens of different religions,
  cultures, national minorities and races.

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3.The four dimensions of multiculturalism

• Religion
• Cultures
• Linguistic differences
• Races

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Dimensions
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Religion
Is one of the systems of faith that are based on
the belief in the existence of a particular god
or gods, or in the teachings of a spiritual
leader (Jewish religion, Christianity, Islam and
other world religions) The law states that
everyone has the right to practice their own
religion. Oxford Learners Dictionary
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Why to worry?Chart The sad state of religious
freedom around the world

• More than three-quarters of the world's
  population lived in countries with "high" or
  "very high" levels of restriction on religion in
  2013, according to a new Pew Research Center
  report titled "Latest Trends in Religious
  Restrictions and Hostilities.
• http//www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/
  2015/02/27/chart-the-sad-state-of-religious-freedo
  m-around-the-world/

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Plus value

• Serving others is a value that all religions
  share
• Religious development means humanity development
• Happiness, wonder, joy are connected to religion
• According to many social science studies,
  psychological well-being is positively correlated
  with religious engagement

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• basic social contact
• coping strategies to enhance one's ability to
  deal with stress
• a large, non-family network of social support
• the positive mental health one derived from
  optimism and volunteering

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Religious diversity
Religious diversity is a widespread phenomenon in
many countries, an important example from this
point of view is India where the diversity is
quite unique. In India we can see endless
varieties of cultural patterns and people have
here all the major religions of the world, India
being the epitome of the world
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Culture

• The customs, arts, social institutions, and
  achievements of a particular nation, people, or
  other social group Caribbean culture.
• (Oxford dictionary)

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Cultural diversity

• Societies managed cultural diversity since
  ancient times, in Greece there were various small
  regions with different costumes, traditions,
  dialects and identities.

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Plus value EU and cultures

• Article 167 of the Treaty of the Functioning of
  the European Union defines the role of the
  European Union (EU) in the area of culture it
  supports, coordinates or supplements the actions
  of member countries and seeks to bring Europe's
  common cultural heritage to the fore.
• The EU supports actions to preserve cultural
  heritage, and promote cooperation and
  transnational exchanges between cultural
  institutions in member countries.
• A new funding programme Creative Europe will
  run between 2014 and 2020. Other initiatives
  include Heritage Days (locally-based initiatives
  that allow access to sites not normally open to
  the public) and Capitals of Culture, both
  launched in 1985.

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Why to worry? Cultural effects on migration

• In many European countries, including Britain,
  Switzerland, Denmark, Italy, and Sweden,
  opposition to immigration has become a central
  issue in many elections
• With increasing numbers of asylum seekers,
  Britain is imposing stricter immigration and
  naturalization policies.
• Charlie Hebdo!

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Cultural diversity

• Development Societies managed cultural diversity
  since ancient times, in Greece there were various
  small regions with different costumes,
  traditions, dialects and identities.

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Linguistic differences

• A language is a complex of knowledge and
  abilities enabling speakers to communicate with
  each other, to express ideas, hypotheses,
  emotions, desires, and all the other things that
  need expressing.
• Linguistics is the study of these knowledge
  systems in all their aspects how is such a
  knowledge system structured, how is it acquired,
  how is it used in the production and
  comprehension of messages, how does it change
  over time?

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Plus value Common European Framework of
Reference for Languages
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Why to worry?

• Linguistic differences are connected to concepts
  as
• - Ethnic groups
• - Tension source for rural urban groups,
• Social classes differences,
• - Ethnic identification

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Language variety

• Language differences mean regional, social, or
  contextual differences in the ways that a
  particular language is used (linguistic
  variability).
• Interest in linguistic variation has developed
  rapidly after the rise of sociolinguistics in the
  1960s.
• (Language and Linguistics Key Concepts, 2007).

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Linguistic diversity
Linguistic diversity is an important issue to
take into account, in the approx. 200 countries
around the world there are 6000 spoken languages.
Some examples include Quebecois in Canada,
Catalans and Basques in Spain
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Race

• is a term that attempts to categorize human
  beings into distinct groups according to
  phenotypes or physical traits (e.g., skin color,
  eye shape).
• Throughout history, race has been used as a
  social, cultural, and biological construct to
  group people.
• The concept of race has changed over time and
  continues to be difficult to define because our
  current knowledge of biological science does not
  support the idea that there are meaningful
  biological differences between races.

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Race, as a social concept, is a group of people
who share similar and distinct physical
characteristics. UNESCO
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Plus value

• Sociologists define race as a concept that is
  used to signify different types of human bodies.
• Race research lead to interracial interactions
  which go smoothly and lead to productive
  collaboration and friendship.

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Why to worry? Racism

• Racism consists of both prejudice and
  discrimination based in social perceptions of
  biological differences between peoples. (Oxford
  dictionary)

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Racial diversity
The rich racial diversity of modern humanity owes
its existence to geographic separation and the
reproductive isolation this separation has
created
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4. Multiculturalism is a Failure or not?
German Chancellor Angela Merkel declared that in
Germany, multiculturalism has "utterly
failed. Both Australia's ex-prime minister John
Howard and Spain's ex-prime minister Jose Maria
Aznar reached the same conclusion about
multiculturalism in their countries.
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Multiculturalism was one of our countrys social
revolutions of the 20th century. In the 21st
centurya century in which American global
leadership may be lackingCanada needs a
socio-strategic revolution. We need to find a way
to unite those communities in Canada that would
normally be divided by an overseas protracted
social conflict behind a shared foreign policy
approach.
Defence Minister Jason Kenney is also responsible
for the multiculturalism file in Canada
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• Our countrys policy of multiculturalism has
  brought the world to Canada. Today, we need to
  use our diversity to bring Canada to the world.
• (Zach Paikin The Hill Times, London,
  England)news_at_hilltimes.com

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• Questions?
• Thank you for attention!