Integration models Flashcards
(27 cards)
Two perspectives: universality vs. particularity
Universality:
Concept of human nature determines cultures
“naturalism” – similarities rather than differences –
universal common cultural patterns
Particularity:
- every social group has an own culture
- individualism: every human being has an own cultural identity
- focussing on differences rather than similarities, focus on diversity
One perspective: universality AND particularity
Cross culturally shared humanity (values, ethics, human rights, needs)
AND cultural differences / diversity / identities
- Cultural differences have no moral significance and influence on dignity,
because a basic human moral exists , which is inherent to all human beings.
-> compare with philosophers as Plato, John Locke, Immanuel Kant and others
PLURALIST UNIVERSALISM
Universality and particularity:
Human beings are individually culturally embedded and universally share the
same cultural properties.
But:
universal values also can lead to conflicts between different cultures, because cultures are not static and are influenced by power and power interests
-> cultures prioritize, balance, modify universal properties following their
historical experiences and cultural sensibilities
Cross-cultural global consensus:
UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity - 2001:
Identity, diversity and pluralism
* Article 1 - Cultural diversity: the common heritage of humanity
To defend cultural diversity is an ethical imperative, inseparable from the respect for human dignity.
Human rights -> cultural rights
Cultural Diversity instead of cultural differences
Historical perspective:
John Stuart Mill: British political philosopher, 19th century
- human being self-develops, every human being is unique
-> cultural diversity leads to individuality and progress,
healthy competition between the cultures, interchange and new ideas
Cultural diversity is a condition of human freedom- encourages dialogue
Classical Interculturality
According to concepts of classical interculturality, cultures are systems of orientation that determine the thinking, perceptions, values, and actions of members of communities.
Since people internalize cultures through social learning processes, everyone has a cultural background that shapes their behavior. Thus, people can be assigned to different cultural groups.
Classical interculturality – critical consideration
Culture is understood in a very one-dimensional way and is almost always reduced to culture of origin.
Classical interculturalism focuses mainly on the differences and the difficulties in encounters.
Classical interculturalism defines cultures as well-defined, homogenic and separated, closed “spaces”.
Classical interculturalism is often used in the context of communication and meetings, punctual encounters, and not in conditions of permanent living/working together for example in pluricultural neighborhoods, families or
enterprises.
Inter-culture instead of interculturality?
We are living nowadays in a multi-/pluricultural world, where nearly every individual has a multi-/pluricultural identity.
We might talk about “inter-culture” as the space which is created in an encounter, a new temporarily culture, a process which is going on and deserves to receive attention, sensibility.
Transculturality
- mixture or diffusion of cultures
- now defined boundaries
- dynamic and changeable
- no internal homogenity within a culture
Transculturality points to the complexity of cultural imprints - against the comfort of simplicity/simplification!
Transculturality and the individual
- no homogenic attributes (stereotypes, clichés)
radical individuality:
–> every individual shapes his/her own individual cultural identity
–> complex, result of a multicollectivity (various cultures)
–> constant process of including cultural encounters/experiences in an
own individual cultural plurality
Transculturality- no´s
> no segregation
-> no categorization
-> no ‘either this or that’ but ‘as well as’
-> no cultural stereotypes
-> no national cultures
-> no ‘we-are-different-from-the-others’ thinking
-> cultural encounters: focus on similarities rather than differences, focus on
individuals rather than cultures
The concept of transculturality under a critical perspective
- categories of the hierarchical and hegemonic are not questioned
- transculturality as a capitalist ideal of flexibility?
- differences and cultural closures enable identity
- towards a global cultural plurality, that at the end is also ‘homogenic’?
- neglecting local cultures and identities?
Multiculturalism
Madrid a multicultural and diverse city.
Multi-Culturalism is a new term to describe a status/situation:
Members of a globalized society find themselves in a new culture, the multi-culture, which is plural and diverse, needs new ways of finding identities and leaves the focus on nation-cultures or homogenic, from each other separated cultures within a foreign nation-culture behind.
Plurality of cultural identities
–> multi culture
The British Multiculturalism
- two-way integration, reciprocal
- United Kingdom in its historical roots already a multicultural state
- British Commonwealth brings different people from different nations together (migration to UK)
UK policies to declare for multiculturalism:
- welfare state
- substantial funding and activism engaged with the needs of minority communities
- series of exemptions from general laws for ethic, racial and religious minorities
Recent challenges of British multiculturalism:
- 9/11 and race riots in the north of England in 2001: re-evaluation of multicultural policy
- Labour government under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown (until 2010): introducing assimilation policy:
new nationality test, tightened immigration and asylum law, strict anti- terrorism legislation - Consequences of Brexit?
The Canadian Multiculturalism
1971: Canada the first country worldwide to adopt a multiculturalism policy:
Ethnicity Multiculturalism (1970s):
- Supporting the cultural and/or folkloric expression of ethnic groups.
Rights-Based Multiculturalism (1980s):
- Multiculturalism as a basic right (constitution),
multicultural policies with a focus on the need to combat discrimination
Anti-Racism/Anti-Discrimination Multiculturalism (1990s):
- Economic and social participation of immigrants and designated minority
groups
Canadian Multiculturalism- stats
Among G8 countries, Canada has the highest proportion of foreign-born population (20.6%), well above that of Germany (13.0% in 2010) and the United States of America (12.9% in 2010).
Canada is home to more than 200 ethnic origins and 200 languages.
Indigenous rights and situation of indigenous peoples
The Canadian Multiculturalism - critique
-> the multiculturalism policy undermines Canada’s bicultural nature and
thereby undermines Canadian identity
-> encouragement of ethnic differences leds immigrants to adopt a “psychology of separation” which creates distinct communities and
preventes newcomers from becoming fully part of the mainstream culture
-> this threatenes Canadian unity and cohesion.
The French assimilation model- Historical background 19th century
France, 19th century:
- Process of nationalization and secularization
- upcoming anti-Semitic movements
Assimilation was presented as a social pact:
- the ability to privately maintain one’s religion in exchange for full participation in the construction of the nation
-> Jewish population in France and Muslim population in the colonies
The French assimilation model- Historical background 20th century
Jacques Stern, 1944 (former French Minister of the colonies):
“consolidating the moral and material ties which bind together forty million
continental Frenchmen and sixty million overseas Frenchmen, white and colored”
> Colonies as “provinces” within the French empire following the French
nation culture.
Until 1974: assimilation as citizens
- Immigration from Poland, Spain, Portugal, Italy:
- Separation of citizenship (public) and religion (private): own churches and
services in the languages of the immigrants
- Same rights also for Muslim population
New immigration policies from 1974 on:
integration instead of assimilation: maintaining own culture and language
(encouraging a return to home countries)
Current situation – 21st century
Riots, terrorist attacks:
- Redefinition of French secularism facing the rise of religious fundamentalism
citizenship tests to obtain French nationality implemented
Public debate:
- Are immigrants “assimilable”?
- Did assimilation policies fail?
- Or are nowadays problems a result of a failed implementation of strict
assimilation?
Sociology of immigration/integration- two theoretical frames:
- classic theory of converging assimilation
- the segmented assimilation theory
Classic theory of converging assimilation:
Integration is an individual process and has not to do with the context.
Time factor:
- Over time and generations, immigrant populations become increasingly similar
to host country natives, ultimately becoming indistinguishable from them.
Uniform adaption process:
- Assimilation as a natural process of hierarchy of cultures: gradual loss of the former culture in favor of the new/dominant one
