Multiculturalism observed : exploring identity / editor, Richard Lewis [and eight others].

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Lewis, Richard, editor.

Series:

Publication series (Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Institute for European Studies) ; no. 8.

Institute for European Studies - publication series ; Number 8

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Multiculturalism.

Minorities--Europe.

Minorities.

Emigration and immigration.

Minorities--United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (156 p.)

Place of Publication:

Brussels, Belgium : VUBPress, 2006.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

A timely and unique perspective on a phenomenon that is highly divisive and splits academic and public opinion alike. In the wake of the terrorist attacks in New York, Madrid, and London, the question how Western society integrates its minorities has become one of the most crucial issues facing government today and excites media attention and frequent public controversy. This volume presents a number of points of view both from Europe and North America by academic, religious, and political authors from a variety of cultures, all with a very different perspective on whether multiculturalism is a valid answer to ensuring harmony in our societies.

Contents:

""Front ""; ""Multiculturalism Observed Exploring Identity""; ""Brussels University Press""; ""1. Introduction: Reflections on Multiculturalism""; ""Richard Lewis""; ""The genesis of this volume lies in the heated debate now taking place not only in Europe but in other parts of the world regarding the nature of our societies as a result of migration. We live in a highly mobile world. Two per cent of the wor...""

""This has resulted in a retrenchment in political and media circles, pitting �conservative� thinkers against more radical elements who consider that we have to bow to the inevitable and accept that mobility of populations and especially the po...""""It is entirely legitimate to express concern about identity and what makes British or French or Italian cultures what they are and what they offer to the world. In a sense, the term �multicultural� is a misnomer because what these short essay...""

""Before developing these themes further, it is worth reflecting on what may seem self evident but which needs to be restated. The nation states of Europe, and indeed elsewhere, are the products of their history and geography. There is not one ...""""In the second place the concept of the nation state and its various identities - language, citizenship, passports, national sports - is a modern construct which took its present form as late as the French Revolution. Benedict Anderson in Imag...""

""Is there any reason to think, therefore, that this �limitless future� will produce a steady state of the culture of the nation? Given European history, it is an extremely unlikely outcome. There are, furthermore, political and historical impe...""""This discourse leads me to the conclusion that the identity of people and nations runs very deep and causes soul searching and conflict when it is challenged by immigrants or even, as in the case of the Balkan conflicts of the late twentieth ...""

""Ignatieff was writing in the context of the Balkan wars but I would like to transpose the important issue he raises into the context of immigration. When, as in Western Europe currently, there is a substantial influx of people with very diffe...""""To put this into focus, what we now have in many parts of Europe are two conflicting phenomena: the economic advantages of immigration to replace a declining native population supported by the majority of the political elite, set against a pe...""

""The situation of the Jews in Europe in the aftermath of the horrors of the Holocaust is addressed in an essay by Rabbi David Meyer. However, he does not discuss the success of the Jewish immigrations from Eastern to Western Europe at the end ...""

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references.

Description based on print version record.

OCLC:

922966364