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Politics, society and identity - Identity politics - Cultural diversity

6 important questions on Politics, society and identity - Identity politics - Cultural diversity

What is a powerful factor underpinning the significance of identity politics?

Increase in international migration (mostly since the 1950s) and the consequent growth in cultural diversity.

What is one of the consequences of growth in cultural diversity?

More countries have come to accept that their populations have multi-ethnic, multi-cultural or multi-religious characters. So various attempt have been made to reconcile cultural diversity and identity-related difference with civic and political cohesion.

What is the central within all forms of multiculturalism?

That individual identity is culturally embedded, in the sense that people largely derive their understanding of the world and their framework of moral beliefs from the culture in which they live and develop.

--> distinctive cultures therefore deserve to be protected.

What are three kinds of minority rights? (Kymlicka)

> Self-government rights; belong to national minorities (territorially concentrated) --> Native Americans, Inuits, Aborigines. In this case the right to self-government should involve the devolution of political power.

> Poly-ethnic rights: help ethnic groups and religious minorities, that have developed through immigration, to express and maintain their cultural distinctiveness (f.e exemption of Muslim girls from school dress codes).

> Special representation rights: attempt to address the under representation of minority or disadvantaged groups in education, and in political and public life (positive discrimination)

What is the chief conservative objection to multiculturalism?

That shared values and a common culture are a necessary precondition for a stable and successful society. Increased cultural diversity can threaten national identity.
From this perspective:
--> Multicultural societies are inevitably fractured and conflict ridden.

What are other criticisms of multiculturalism?

- that it serves to legitimize illiberal/repressive cultural practices.
- diminishes cross-cultural understanding. Multiculturalism may endorse diversity at the expense of unity.
- It has been blamed for disadvantaging the very minority group that it serves to protect. Minority groups may pay a high price for their failure to integrate into the wider society in terms of socio-economic marginalization.

The question on the page originate from the summary of the following study material:

Politics | 9781352005462 | Andrew Heywood

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