MULTICULTURALISM QUESTIONS
1) WHAT IS “PLURALISM?”
2) WHAT IS THE MAJOR ORGANIZATIONAL PROBLEM OF “PLURAL SOCIETIES” LIKE CANADA?
3) WHAT IS “MULTICULTURALISM?”
4) WHAT IS A “CULTURAL MOSAIC?”
5) WHY IS THERE DIFFERENT AND SEEMINGLY VARIANT DEFINITIONS OF MULTICULTURALISM?
6) WHAT IS A MULTICULTUAL MINORITY?
7) WHAT IS “MULTICULTURAL THINKING?”
8) WHY IS MULTICULTUALISM AN OFFICIAL POLICY OF CANADIAN SOCIETY?
9) WHY WRE MULTICULTUAL DIFFERENCES ISMISSED IN THE PAST AS A BOTHERSOME ANOMALY, OF NO REEEMING VALUE OUTSIDE A PERSONAL OR PRIVATE CONTEXT?
10) HOW DOES MULTICULTURALISM DIFFER FROM OTHER TECHNIQUES FOR
MANAGING RACE AND ETHNIC RELATIONS?
MULTICULTURALISM QUESTIONS
PLURALISM CAN BE DEFINED AS A SOCIETY THAT ENTAILS THE
COEXISTENCE OF CULTURALLY DIFFERENT GROUPS. THIS CULTURAL
COEXISTENCE IS ACHIEVED THROUGH THE CREATION OF AN OVERARCHING SET OF VALUES OR
INSTITUTIONS. A COMMITMENT TO MULTICULTURALISM REPRESENTS
ONE VARIANT OF A PLURALIST SOCIETY? 2) WHAT IS THE MAJOR ORGANIZATIONAL PROBLEM OF
“PLURAL SOCIETIES” LIKE CANADA?
B) (PLURAL
SOCIETIES WITHOUT A COMMON CONSENSUS [“PROBLEM OF COHESIVENESS”]ARE
HELD TOGETHER BY THE THREAT OF FORCE OR HEAVY-HANDED IDEOLOGICAL
INDOCTRINATION). 3) WHAT IS “MULTICULTUALISM?” A) CAN BE
DEFINED AS A TECHNIQUE FOR ENGAGING DIVERSITY AS DIFFERENT YET EQUAL. B) THE SEARCH FOR THE
HARMONY OF DIFFERENCES. C) [FLERAS]
“A DOCTRINE AND A CORRESPONDING SET OF PRACTICES THAT OFFICIALLY ACKNOWLEDGE
AND PROMOTE A SOCIETY IN WHICH DIVERSITY IS DEFINED AS LEGITIMATE OR INTEGRAL
WITHOUT NECESSARILY UNDERMINING THE INTERCONNECTEDNESS OF THE PARTS THAT HOLD
IT TOGETHER.” OFFICIAL
MULTICULTURALISM IN CANADA====> SERVES AS A PROACTIVE DEVISE FOR DEFUSING INTER-GROUP TENSIONS
BY PROMULGATING THE (ONCE UNTHINKABLE) IDEA THAT PEOPLE WITH DIFFERENT CULTURAL
BACKGROUNDS CAN COEXIST WITHOUT CONFLICT. 4) WHAT IS A “CULTURAL MOSAIC?” A) A METAPHOR FOR THE IDEAL ARRANGEMENT INVOLVING VARIOUS RACIAL AND
ETHNIC GROUPS IN SOCIETIES SUCH AS CANADA. B) THE
PROPOSED IMAGE IS THAT OF A PATTERNED ENTITY COMPRISING DISPARATE AND
DISTINCT ELEMENTS ARRANGED INTO A “COHESIVE” WHOLE. C) PROPONENTS
ADMIRE THE POSITIVE IMAGES ASSOCIATED WITH THE MOSAIC; DETRACTORS
DENOUNCE IT AS A GROSS DISTORTION THAT NEITHER FITS REALITY NOR
ESCAPES THE CONCEPTUAL TRAP OF CULTURAL COEXISTENCE BOTH FIXED IN TIME
AND SEPARATED BY INEQUALITY. 5) WHY IS THERE DIFFERENT AND
SEEMINGLY VARIANT DEFINITION OF MULTICULTURALISM? A) THE
DIFFERENT LEVELS OF MULTICULTURALISM RANGE FROM A FACT, OR
AN IDEOLOGY, TO A POLICY OR PRACTICE
[DESCRIPTIVE REALITY– IDEOLOGICAL BELIEF – POLITICAL POLICY]. B) THE SEARCH
IS ELUSIVE -- SEARCH FOR A COMMON OR UNIFYING CONSENSUS
THAT IS INCLUSIVE IN PLURAL SOCIETIES (PLURAL SOCIETIES
WITHOUT A COMMON CONSENSUS [“PROBLEM OF COHESIVENESS”]ARE
HELD TOGETHER BY THE THREAT OF FORCE OR HEAVY-HANDED IDEOLOGICAL
INDOCTRINATION). C) [HOWEVER, THE MAIN REASON FOR DIFFERENT DEFINITIONS IN THE
CANADIAN CONTEXT IS] – REFERENCES TO “MULTICULTURALISM” IN CONTEMPORARY
SOCIETY ENCOMPASS A COMPREHENSIVE RANGE OF (1) POLITICAL DYNAMICS
AND (2) SOCIAL PROCESSES, BOTH INTENTIONAL AND INADVERTENT
======> CONSEQUENTLY IT IS A MULTI-DISCOURSED ISSUE AND
NOT ALL PEOPLE ARE ON “THE SAME PAGE” {PEOPLE TALK AROUND EACH OTHER, AT EACH
OTHER, AND WITH “NO CONTEXTUAL ANCHORS” FOR TRUE CONVERSATION
========> IT IS DISCOURSED AS AN ADVANCED-SOCIETY-BUILDING TOOL WITH GOALS
OF CULTURAL IDENTITY, SOCIAL JUSTICE, CITIZENSHIP, NATIONAL UNITY, SOCIETAL
INTEGRATION, AN EQUALITY ======> IT IS ALSO DISCOURSED AS DIVISIVE AND
CONTROLLING {I.E. THE OPPOSITE OF SOCIETAL INTEGRATIONAND EQUALITY}, A
“CONCEPTUAL TRAP” FOR CONTAINING THE ASPIRATIONS OF MINORITIES, A MODERNIST
ANACHRONISM IN A POST-MODERN WORLD, A DILUTION OF CORE
VALUES-UNITY-AND-IDENTITY, {AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST} A CAPITALIST PLOT TO DIVIDE
AND DISTRACT THE WORKING CLASSES. 6) WHAT
IS A “MULTICULTURAL MINORITY?” A)
MULTICULTURAL MINORITIES COMPRISE THOSE CANADIANS WHO ARE IMMIGRANTS OR
DESCENDANTS OF IMMIGRANTS. B) MULTICULTURAL
MINORITIES HAVE [i]THE SAME CITIZENSHIP RIGHTS AS
CANADIANS AT LARGE, IN ADDITION TO [ii ] SPECIAL RIGHTS BECAUSE OF
INCLUSION UNDER CANADA’S OFFICIAL MULTICULTURALISM. 7) WHAT IS “MULTICULTURAL THINKING?” A) ONE
CHARACTERISTIC WOULD REFLECT A PATTERN OF THOUGHT THAT IS NONJUDGMENTAL YET
INFORMED AND CRITICAL, FLEXIBLE YET MULTIDIMENSIONAL AND COMPLEX. B) REVELS IN DIVERSITY NOT AS A THREAT OR AS
IRRELEVANT, BUT AS SOMETHING TO BE ENJOYED FOR ITS OWN SAKE AND AS A WAY OF
LEARNING ABOUT OURSELVES AND THE WORLD AT LARGE. C) IN
CONTRAST, ETHNOCENTRIC OR STEREOTYPED THINKING IS JUDGMENTAL, MORALLY
EVALUATIVE, RIGID AND UNBENDING, STATIC, UNCRITICAL, AND DISMISSIVE OF
ALTERNATIVES. 8) WHY IS MULTICULTURALISM AN OFFICIAL
POLICY OF CANADIAN SOCIETY? A)
B) ENDORSES
THE REALITY OF DIVERSITY AS A LEGITIMATE COMPONENT OF CANADIAN SOCIETY. C) HISTORICALLY
CANADIAN SOCIETY TENDED TO OSTRACIZE OR DEMEAN MINORITIES. PREJUDICE AND
DISCRIMINATION REINFORCED A DISMISSIVE BELIEF IN DIVERSITY AS INIMICAL TO SOCIETY
BUILDING. ETHNO-RACIAL MINORITIES WERE EXPECTED TO FIT INTO THE EXISTING
INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK OF SOCIETY AS A PRICE OF ADMISSION. WITH THE INCEPTION
OF MULTICULTURALISM, HOWEVER, RESPONSE TO DIVERSITY HAS BEEN STOOD ON ITS HEAD.
DIVERSITY IS CURRENTLY PROMOTED AS AN INTEGRAL AND LEGITIMATE COMPONENT OF
CANADA’S SOCIAL FABRIC, WITH UNTAPPED POTENTIAL FOR IMPROVING NATIONAL WEALTH
AND INTERNATIONAL STANDING. 9) WHY
WERE MULTICULTURAL DIFFERENCES DISMISSED IN THE PAST AS A
BOTHERSOME ANOMALY, OF NO REDEEMING VALUE OUTSIDE A PERSONAL OR PRIVATE
CONTEXT? A) SOCIAL
BIOLOGY OR “SOCIAL DARWINISM” PERSPECTIVE OF LIFE
PRODUCED ETHNIC CHAUVINISM. 10) HOW DOES
MULTICULTURALISM DIFFER FOR OTHER TECHNIQUES FOR MANAGING RACE
AND ETHNIC RELATIONS? A) “ACCOMMODATION”
AND “ASSIMILATION”: (PROCESSES WHEREBY MINORITIES LOSE
THEIR DISTINCTIVENESS AND ABSORB INTO THE ONGOING ACTIVITIES AND OBJECTIVES OF
THE DOMINANT SOCIETY. B) PLATFORMS
FROM WHICH MINORITIES HAVE BEEN ABLE TO CRITICIZE, NEGOTIATE, AND ADVOCATE. C) MULTICULTURALISM IS BASED ON THE “BELIEF” (NOT ASSIMILATING OR
ACCOMMODATING DOMINANT GROUP) IN INSTITUTIONAL POWER-SHARING.