Interculturalism, Multiculturalism or Both?
| Author | Nasar Meer,Tariq Modood |
| Published date | 01 April 2012 |
| Date | 01 April 2012 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.2041-9066.2012.00097.x |
The reasons for this anti-multicultural
turn are various, but include the view
that multiculturalism has facilitated social
fragmentation and entrenched divisions;
for others it has displaced attention from
socio-economic disparities; or encouraged
a moral hesitancy amongst ‘native’ popula-
tions. Some even blame it for international
terrorism.
Alongside these anxieties over multicul-
turalism, a number of other political orien-
tations promoting unity have come to the
fore, including the discovery or rediscovery
of national identity, notions of civicness
and a resurgent – ‘muscular’ – liberalism.
Several governments also speak of social
or community cohesion, while hovering
Interculturalism,
Multiculturalism or Both?
Last February, David Cameron, address-
ing the Munich Security Conference,
declared that multiculturalism has not
worked in the UK. The Prime Minister’s
comments, echoing the sentiment of a
number of politicians in ‘old’ immigration
countries (especially France and the Neth-
erlands), came not long after the German
Chancellor Angela Merkel declared that
‘multiculturalism has failed, completely
failed’, despite Germany having never
adopted a multiculturalist policy agenda.
In the UK those multiculturalist poli-
cies have broadly remained intact, even
though an anti-multicultural rhetoric has
now achieved traction and the concept of
multiculturalism is politically embattled.
Interculturalism has replaced multiculturalism in many discussions of cultural diversity. But what does the term
mean, and is it really a superior alternative to the multiculturalist model? Nasar Meer and Tariq Modood
investigate.
above all these debates is the notion of
‘integration’.
Interculturalism
Yet one competitor term has been little
explored, despite both its frequency in
public discourse and its apparent capacity to
retain something of what multiculturalism
is concerned with. This is ‘intercultural-
ism’ and the related idea of ‘intercultural
dialogue’. For example, both the Council
of Europe and UNESCO have been pro-
moting the concept as a preferred mode
of integration to multiculturalism, and it is
now frequently found in places as diverse
as German and Greek education programs,
Belgian commissions on cultural diversity,
and Russian teaching on world cultures. In-
deed, 2008 was designated as the European
Year of Intercultural Dialogue (EYID), with
the European Commission’s stated objec-
tive being to encourage ‘all those living in
Europe to explore the benefits of our rich
cultural heritage and opportunities to learn
from different cultural traditions’.
It is worth stepping back from these fine
sentiments to consider what distinguishes
these efforts from others concerned with
recognising cultural diversity. Is intercultur-
alism, as some have suggested, an updated
version of multiculturalism? If so: what is
being updated? If not, in what ways – if at
all – is interculturalism different, substan-
tively or otherwise, from multiculturalism?
We suggest there are four.
Beyond Multicultural Co-existence?
Firstly, communication is said to be a defining
characterisitic of interculturalism. But to
what extent can this be claimed as either
Last February, at a conference in Munich, German Chancellor Angela Merkel declared that
‘multiculturalism has failed, completely failed’
Press Association
30 Political Insight
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