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

1) WHAT IS “PLURALISM?”

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?

A) “PROBLEM OF COHESIVENESS”. THE PROBLEM OF HOLDING DIFFERENCES TOGETHER WITHOUT ETHNO-RACIAL CONFLICT REDUCING THEM TO RUBBLE.

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?

DIVERSIFICATION THROUGH IMMIGRATION.

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.