multicultural

The adjective multicultural comes from Latin and is composed of the prefix multi- „much“ and the verb stem cultural.

However, the term multiculturalism must be distinguished from multiculturalism. The former means a description of a state, while the latter refers to a political movement and attitude towards life (cf. Beyersdörfer 2004, 43).

Multiculturalism is a descriptive term, while multiculturalism contains normative implications (cf. Beyersdörfer 2004, 43). According to Mintzel, multiculturalism refers to a social fact: „Namely, the fact that several cultures coexist in a society or a state-organized society/population.“ (Mintzel 1997, 58).

The phenomenon of multiculturalism is in the foreground here: „Be it peacefully or in conflict, be it in a coexistence or in an integrated togetherness. Multiculturalism consequently denotes a socio-cultural characteristic of a society, its manifold cultural differentiation, whatever this multiculturalism may be based on.“ (Mintzel 1997, 58)

Forms of multicultural characteristics

Research distinguishes four models of multicultural societies:

The assimilationist model is one „that aims at the cultural adaptation of minority or immigrant cultures“ (Lüsebrink 2012, 20). A variant of this model is the integrative model, which also aims at cultural adaptation, but assumes a longer transitional phase and grants special rights to minority cultures in the areas of school, politics, or religion (cf. Lüsebrink 2012, 18).

„The apartheid model, which became a reality, as in South Africa before 1995, in the >Third Reich< as well as in numerous colonial societies,“ aims at „strict segregation, isolation and often ghettoization of cultural minorities“ (Lüsebrink 2012, 21) . In these societies, a hierarchical order of rank prevails in which origin is made absolute. The boundaries of the order are impermeable and only the ethnic ranking determines the distribution of social opportunities (cf. Lüsebrink 2012, 18).

The polycentric model is „characterized by a principally equal coexistence of different cultures within a society“ (Lüsebrink 2012, 21). These societies have neither a cultural center nor is there a superior majority: „This aggregate state occurs when the historical framework of European universalism, the nation-state as a unit of thought and action, gives way and transnational mobility takes place to such an extent that the world society turns from an abstraction into an experiential reality.“ (Leggewie 1993, 50)

Literature

Beyersdörfer, Frank (2004): Multicultural Society. Concepts, phenomena, rules of behavior. Münster: LIT.

Leggewie, Claus (1993): Multi Kulti. Rules of the game for the multiethnic republic. Nördlingen: Red Book.

Lüsebrink, Hans Jürgen (2012): Intercultural communication. Interaction, foreign perception, cultural transfer. 3rd ed. Stuttgart: J. B. Metzler.

Mintzel, Alf (1997): Multicultural societies in Europe and North America. Concepts, controversies, analyses, findings. Passau: Rothe.