Multiculturalism

Multiculturalism is an ideology advocating that society should consist of, or at least allow and include, distinct cultural and religious groups, with equal status. Whether or not cultural groups should have distinct political status is a contested issue among political scientists. Some nations have adopted official policies of multiculturalism, but the norm is varying conditions of cultural diversity accompanied by greater or lesser degrees of tolerance and acceptance. The term "multiculturalism" or multicultural is also used to describe demographic conditions of cultural and ethnic diversity where it occurs, whether or not it is officially supported by state policy. There is thus an important distinction to be made between official, or de jure multiculturalism and the de facto conditions of cultural diversity, tolerance and cosmopolitanism that have occurred throughout history as well as modern societies. As state policy, multiculturalism has so far been a way of managing cultural diversity by focusing on superficial aspects of cultural identity rather than structural inequalities related to de facto cultural dominance and institutional racism.

Advocates for the adoption (or maintenance) of official policies of multiculturalism often argue that diversity is a positive force for a society’s nationhood or cultural identity. Official multiculturalism contrasts with forms of officially sanctioned monoculturalism (though such a term has only been used retrospectively) which had been the norm in the European ideology of the nation-state since the early nineteenth century. Monoculturalism implies a normative cultural unity, with 'monocultural' being a descriptive term for a pre-existing homogeneity that has usually been more imaginary than real. Where a nation has accepted high levels of immigration, monoculturalism has been accompanied by varieties of assimilationist policies and practices to coerce forms of acculturation to (and protection of) the norms of the dominant culture. Assimilation imposes an assymemetrical requirement on groups outside of the homogeneous norm to fully embrace and accept the dominant cultural paradigm as their own without concurrent adjustments from the dominant group. The term multicultural is also often used to refer to non-European immigrant groups in European-settled countries (such as the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand), rather than the presence of indigenous peoples. This usage is similar to the terms NESB (Non-English speaking backgound and CALD (Culturally and linguistically diverse) people.