Multiculturalism

- Multiculturalism societies have existed for ages - e.g. the Ottomon Empire in the late 16th and 17th centuries and USA from early 19th century

- Term first used in Canada to describe a distinctive approach to tackling the issue of cultural diversity

- Canada adopted multiculturalism as a public policy in 1971

- Australia said it was multiculturalist in the early 70s

- Multiculturalism has been prominent in political debate since the 90s

- Key theme is diversity within unity

- Positively endorses communal diversity

- Believes different cultural groups have the right to recognition and respect

- Beliefs, values and ways of lifes are important in establishing identity

- Cultures deserve protection and need to be strengthened, especially when they are a minority

- Multiculturalism has been very controversial at times

- First emerged as a theoretical stance through the black conciousness movement - 1960s

- Black nationalism dates back to the early 20th century

- Black politics gained greater prominence in the 1960s, campaigning for civil rights and led by Martin Luther King

- Black Power movement rejected their non violent methods and starting using armed confrontation under the Black Panther Party, beginning in '66

- Black Muslims (founded in '29) advocate a separatist creed based on the idea that black Americans descend from a Muslim tribe

- Growing political assertiveness amongst minority groups in 60's and 70's: French speaking people in Canadam Scottish and Welsh nationalism in the UK

- Had the desire to challenge economic and social marginalisation

- Some wanted to overthrow dominant white culture that had oppressed them

- Multicultural politics has also been strengthened by international migration

- After the war, workers were recruited from abroad to help with reconstruction

- '90's - migration across the globe. Growing number of refugees because of war etc.

- Growth of low paid, skilled and status jobs that domestic population don't want

- By early noughties, lots of western states had incorporated multiculturalism into public policy

- Multi-ethnic, multi - religious and multicultural trends in modern societies are irreversible

- Cultural diversity caused by having two ore more groups in a society with different beliefs and practices

- Communal diversity because of racial, ethnic and language differences

- Governments respond to multiculturalism through public policy and institutional design

- These policies recognise that different cultural groups have different needs and try to ensure equality of opportunity

- Multiculturalism celebrates communal diversity believing that different cultural groups have the same rights to respect and recognition and diversity benefits society

- Multiculturalism is rooted in postcolonial ideas

- Postcolonialism theories emerged when the European empires collapsed in the early post 1945 period

- Black nationalism was a manifestation of postcolonialism

- Multiculturalism is an offshoot of postcolonialism

- Postcolonialism tried to challenge and overturn cultural dimensions of political rule by legitimising non western or anti western ideas

- Postcolonialism challenged a Eurocentric world and tried to give the developing world a separate and distinctive political voice

- Postcolonialism highlighted the importance of culture

- Multiculturalism is identity politics so tries to adcance the interests of particular groups in societythat are usually suffering injustice by strengthening member's awareness of their identity and experiences they have in common

- Multiculturalism has a communitarian view of human nature that they cannot be understood outside society

- People are shaped by the social, cultural and other contexts they live in

- Multiculturalism think ways of life and culture are really important. It gives people identity and makes the world mean something to them

- People will feel rooted if they have pride in their culture

- Rise of multiculturalism shows a shift from universalism to particularism

- Multiculturalism believes preserving national languages is important