Multiculturalism – A Journey

Cristina Artenie

What do we mean by multicultural?

• Definition: a combination of two or more cultures

• Examples: a place where two or more cultures live side by side; a place where two or more cultures have combined; a person who has roots in more than one cultural or ethnic community; a person who speaks several languages and has lived in more than one country.

APP Students Visit Holocaust Museum

Students from Korea, Mozambique, Mexico, Brazil, and Venezuela

Arepas: Colombian or Venezuelan food?- Where do they come from?- What is the story of this flat corn bread?

A Multicultural Society Is very often the Result of

Imperialism.• Looking back to any of the European, African, or Asian empire, there is movement of population through settlements and re-settlements or through slavery;

• There is movement of goods through commerce or pillaging;

• there is the advance of religion, whether Christian or Muslim, for example.

Multiculturalism and the City-What city is this?The modern city is often built on the ruins of another, more ancient city. This means that what was before is part of what is now.

Diego Rivera MuralRivera’s point in painting this picture is to remind Mexicans and the world of the Aztec past of the country, and of its unique social fabric that includes not only descendants of Spaniards but also of Indians. This is what makes Mexico stand out from among other nations.

Multiculturalism: good or bad?

• All countries are, inevitably, multicultural.

• The national grand narrative does not always acknowledge the presence of the Other.

• Very often, the Other is blamed for the country’s problems.

• More often than not, multiculturalism is used for propaganda; it is something we show to the tourists, not something we acknowledge on a daily basis.

Grand Narrative and the Other

• A grand narrative is a discourse that emphasizes the struggle and success of those in the position of power.

• The history of all nations are such grand narratives in which wars, poverty, political subservience have been overcome.

• The Other is the opposite of the Self.

• The Other is inferior, different, uncivilized, and in need of help.

• History is never told from the perspective of the Other, therefore he is often left out or mentioned briefly in the grand narrative.

How Multiculturalism Serves an Ideological

Purpose• Depending on the speaker, on the audience, and of the context, multiculturalism can be either good or bad. It rarely just IS.

• The discourse about multiculturalism is not neutral or innocent, but ideologically charged.

• When a country is “proud to be multicultural,” it usually means that in its own representation it is better than other countries.

• When a country refuses to admit that it is multicultural, it usually means that minority groups are being discriminated or left out of the nation.

Culture and Identity

A case study of how Culture and Identity can

be constructed

A Place of History

Do you know this place? Where is it? What is it called? Is it beautiful? Why?

Scottish highland dancers perform at the National Tartan Day in Ottawa, CanadaProud of its Scottish heritage, Canada has an official National Tartan Day.Each clan has a different Tartan, and there is great pride in wearing the unique pattern and combination of colours of one’s tribe.

The Scottish kilt has now the seal of the Royal Family.Centuries after the Scottish people were defeated and conquered by the English, Scottish traditions are now very fashionable with the Royal Family.

Scottish Culture and Identity

• The Tartan Kilt is an 1829 invention by an Englishman

• Scottish ancient history was manipulated into fiction to fill 900 years of missing information

• Scottish literature was supposed to begin with the Ossianic poems

• From The Invention of Scotland by James Trevor-Roper

BRAVEHEARTWilliam Wallace lead the Scottish armies against the English invaders in 1297-1298. He was executed in 1305 by the English.

IdentityIn his seminal writings, Stuart Hall argues that:

• identities are fluid: they change depending on the position of the subject.

• identities are contradictory: in some circumstance one can be on one side; on different circumstances one can be on the opposite side.

• identity is a construct that takes into consideration many variables (class, sex, race, age, profession, etc).

National Identity and National Culture

• National identity rests on what we perceive as shared culture.

• National culture is composed of cultural institutions, symbols and representations.

• A National Culture is a discourse - a way of constructing meanings which influences and organizes both our actions and our conceptions of ourselves.

Debating MulticulturalismArguments for• - people can be who they

are, keep their language and religion at home, celebrate their culture with members of their community, etc. This makes them feel at home in Canada (or any other country).

• - multiculturalism ensures that people are not discriminated against because of race, religion or ethnic origin.

Arguments against• -people are only allowed to be who they are in the privacy of their homes and in their own communities.

• - non-discrimination is sanctioned by laws and by adhering to the General Declaration of Human Rights

Critical thinking exercise You are the hiring manager for a big institution. You are looking for 1 candidate for a job that requires a specific degree, 5 years of experience, 3 languages, a knowledge of the field in your country. You have 3 applicants that you selected for interview:

• Applicant 1: a newcomer from Africa, has everything except what you consider good knowledge of the field in your country (this applicant has only been here for 2 years).

• Applicant 2: a new citizen from some European country, who has the right degree and it is from here, not from his home-country, has many years of experience but has not worked in this field full-time, knows the field enough.

• Applicant 3: a native applicant who doesn't have the right degree (has a degree in a related field), has only 2 years of experience in a similar position but in a different context, does not speak 3 languages but just one and is an intermediate in a second one, knows the field.Who do you hire? Why?

Answers• If 1: you are applying positive discrimination. Good for you, but you negatively discriminate against candidate number 2 on the basis that race is more important than ethnicity. You made a judgement call.

• If 2: you are hiring the right person, even though you might feel that you are discriminating candidates 1 and 3. It is the right call.

• If 3: you are prejudiced and you may even consciously discriminate against candidates 1 and 2 but you feel number 3 is the safe candidate. You shouldn't be a hiring manager.

Summary• Multiculturalism has both advocates and enemies.

• Multiculturalism rests on the idea that there are pure cultures and identities and they need to be protected.

• Multiculturalism is the result of imperialism.

• Culture and Identity, what we call National Cultural Identity is discourse, is a construct, a grand narrative that doesn’t include the Other

• Multiculturalism is politically charged and should be used carefully, always in the spirit of humanism.

Thanks