Battleangel | Personal

Multiculturalism C.W. Watson. ISBN: 0335205208. Paperback, 144pages.

Synopsis: Multicultural and multiculturalism are words frequently used to describe the ethnic diversity which exists everywhere in the world. However, there is some confusion about what precisely they signify. Do they simply describe diversity or are they advocating a particular response to that diversity? This book looks at some of the debates associated with these words and with the concepts attached to them. In particular the arguments for and against multiculturalism are examined in the context of modern states in different political and historical circumstances. Attitudes and emphases in relation to multiculturalism differ, it is argued, from one country to another and the chapters of the book draw out the dimensions of difference with examples ranging from Europe and the USA to South-East Asia and China. The focus of the discussion is placed on issues such as minority rights, education, religious tolerance and the trend to global homogenization. Running through the description of these issues in an implicit critique of the loose way in which the word culture is used to mean an unchanging set of definitive characteristics and how that usage bedevils discussions of multiculturalism.

Again, course literature, but I thought why not. Why not compile a successive list of everything I go through. Also reading, or have read, “Mörk magi i vita medier Svensk nyhetsjournalistik om invandrare (Ylva Brune)” and “Multicultural Riddle : Rethinking National, Ethnic and Religious Identities (Gerd Baumann).”

The Multicultural Riddle: Rethinking National, Ethnic and Religious Identities. Gerd Baumann. 177 pp., bibliogr. London, New York: Routledge, 1999.

Multicultural Riddle is a comprehensive exploration of all the issues that shape our search for a multicultural society. The book examines how we can establish a state of justice and equality between and among three groups: those who believe in a unified national culture, those who trace their culture to their ethnic identity, and those who view their religion as their culture. To solve the multicultural riddle, one must rethink national identity, ethnicity and the role of religion in the modern world.