[RD] The problems caused by Multiculturalism

[Lexicus]

stuff

So, I found this to be an interesting an largely accurate post (I edited it to "stuff" here to save space), but I think it misses a few things. One, when most people think about "multiculturalism" they aren't thinking of it in terms of 20th century liberal sociology etc. In my experience most people who are for "multiculturalism" (at least in the US, I suppose your experience in Europe may be very different) simply mean that they want a multiracial society in which "whiteness" is not automatically seen as hegemonic. I agree that discussions of culture are very frequently tied up in race, to the extent that much discourse about culture is actually just discourse about race with a few words changed around.

The "salad bowl" vs "melting pot" idea, in the US context anyway, I think generally also refers to this idea of hegemony of certain cultures. People who argue that immigrants should "assimilate" are arguing for their own culture (or rather, their own idea of what the culture of their country should be) to remain hegemonic. The fact that immigrants inevitably assimilate to a certain degree is beside the point.

In the US this is all so tied with race that "multiculturalism" is a good proxy for anti-racism, or at least for some sort of multiracial democracy, while those opposed to multiculturalism are (in my view anyway) generally just racists of some kind who are either for the outright exclusion of non-whites (the more anti-immigration segments of the Republican Party typify this tendency), or at least for the maintenance of whiteness' hegemonic position in a cultural hierarchy where cultures defined as "other" are marginalized (this is still arguably the "mainstream liberal" position, and was certainly the "mainstream liberal" position for much of the 20th century).

Religion doesn't fit your model very well.

Uh, yes it does? Sharply defined religious boundaries are the historical exception. The rule is syncretism and coexistence.

 

[Borachio]

Religion doesn't fit your model very well.

Doesn't it?

Where are the boundaries between Judaism, Christianity and Islam, for instance?

I've no doubt there are differences amongst these three. But it's not clear to me that they are separate and clearly distinguishable.

 

[Ryika]

However you still seem to be stuck in the "Leitkultur" mindset where one culture "integrates" (really the word you mean is actually assimilate) into another.

Not at all.

Integration happens on a societal level, not on a cultural level. Migrants must be able, and pushed, to integrate into society, not into the cultural framework of the host nation. Because if you integrate people into society, then the cultural differences evaporate naturally over time. The immigrants will pick up much of the cultural identity of the host nation, and the host nation will pick up some of the cultural identity of the immigrants (which is why you have things like the Ibn-Rushd-Goethe Mosque) - or, if you take in a LOT of migrants in a short time span, you might even be able to switch the "much" and "some" around. Some differences can, and probably will, remain for quite a while, religious affiliation being the most obvious one that comes to mind, and that's fine - after all, as you correctly stated, there is no such thing as "a culture", everybody is an individual. What's important is that there are no sub-societies that are disconnected from the big society.

Multiculturalism is weirdly named in that way, in that it is not actually so much about cultures, but about societies within a larger society that have become "entities" of their own. The interesting thing about America is that they're large enough to be self-sustained, with enough connections to the outside - and often enough tourism - to keep their heads above water. The "Little China"s, while certainly not the richest areas of the country, seem to able to prevent themselves from drifting into poverty for example. This simply does not happen in Europe, at least I'm not aware of any such society that has been able to stay afloat, and I'm aware of many that have not.

 

[Lemon Merchant]

Moderator Action: Sorry. Didn't get the preview of the OP. This thread is obviously too sensitive for the forums and will be closed permanently.