DIFFERENT
DIMENSIONS OF
MULTICULTURALISM
Ioana Bordeianu
Border Police School
ORADEA- ROMANIA
ioanabordeianu@hotmail.com
1. What
is multiculturalism?
Relating to or containing several cultural or
ethnic groups within a society (Oxford
Dictionary)
 the acknowledgement and promotion of
cultural pluralism as a feature of many
societies (…) multiculturalism celebrates
and seeks to protect cultural variety.
Harper Collins Dictionary of Sociology- 1991
As a general rule, the concept of multiculturalism has
been defined in two different ways:
 as a descriptive concept
 as a policy for responding to cultural diversity
(Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
It refers to the different normative
challenges that arise from minority
groups as a result of cultural
diversity.
In sociology, multiculturalism is the view
that cultural differences should be respected
or even encouraged.
Sociologists use the concept of
multiculturalism to describe one way of
approaching cultural diversity within a
society
In the 21st century most of countries
are having a mixture of citizens of
different religions, cultures, national
minorities and races.
Religion
Cultures
Linguistic differences
Races
Is one of the systems of faith that
are based on the belief in the
existence of a particular god or
gods, or in the teachings of a
spiritual leader (Jewish religion,
Christianity, Islam and other world
religions)
The law states that everyone has
the right to practice their own
religion.
Oxford Learner’s Dictionary
More than three-quarters of the world's population lived
in countries with "high" or "very high" levels of
restriction on religion in 2013, according to a new Pew
Research Center report titled "Latest Trends in Religious
Restrictions and Hostilities“.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/
2015/02/27/chart-the-sad-state-of-religious-freedomaround-the-world/
 Serving
others is a value that all
religions share;
 Religious development means humanity
development;
 Happiness, wonder, joy are connected
to religion;
 According to many social science
studies, psychological well-being is
positively correlated with religious
engagement ;
 basic social contact
 coping strategies to enhance one's
ability to deal with stress
 a large, non-family network of social
support
 the positive mental health one derived
from optimism and volunteering

Religious diversity is a widespread
phenomenon in many countries, an
important example from this point of
view is India where the diversity is quite
unique. In India we can see endless
varieties of cultural patterns and people
have here all the major religions of the
world, India being “the epitome of the
world”
The customs, arts,
social institutions,
and achievements
of a particular
nation, people, or
other social group:
Caribbean culture.
(Oxford dictionary)
Societies
managed
cultural
diversity since ancient times, in
Greece there were various small
regions with different costumes,
traditions, dialects and identities.

Article 167 of the Treaty of the Functioning of the
European Union defines the role of the European Union
(EU) in the area of culture: it supports, coordinates or
supplements the actions of member countries and
seeks to bring Europe's common cultural heritage to
the fore.
The EU supports actions to preserve cultural heritage, and promote
cooperation and transnational exchanges between cultural
institutions in member countries.
 A new funding programme ‘Creative Europe’ will run
between 2014 and 2020. Other initiatives include
Heritage Days (locally-based initiatives that allow
access to sites not normally open to the public) and
Capitals of Culture, both launched in 1985.
 In many European countries, including
Britain, Switzerland, Denmark, Italy,
and Sweden, opposition to immigration
has become a central issue in many
elections;
 With increasing numbers of asylum seekers,
Britain is imposing stricter immigration and
naturalization policies.
 Charlie Hebdo!
Development: Societies managed
cultural diversity since ancient
times, in Greece there were various
small
regions
with
different
costumes, traditions, dialects and
identities.
A language is a complex of knowledge and abilities
enabling speakers to communicate with each other, to
express ideas, hypotheses, emotions, desires, and all
the other things that need expressing.
Linguistics is the study of these knowledge systems in
all their aspects: how is such a knowledge system
structured, how is it acquired, how is it used in the
production and comprehension of messages, how does
it change over time?
Linguistic differences are connected to concepts as:
- Ethnic groups
- Tension source for rural urban groups,
- Social classes differences,
- Ethnic identification
Language differences mean regional, social, or
contextual differences in the ways that a particular
language is used (linguistic variability).
Interest in linguistic variation has developed rapidly
after the rise of sociolinguistics in the 1960s.
(Language and Linguistics: Key Concepts, 2007).
Linguistic diversity is an important
issue to take into account, in the
approx. 200 countries around the
world there are 6000 spoken
languages. Some examples include
Quebecois in Canada, Catalans and
Basques in Spain
 is a term that attempts to categorize human beings
into distinct groups according to phenotypes or
physical traits (e.g., skin color, eye shape).
 Throughout history, race has been used as a social,
cultural, and biological construct to group people.
 The concept of race has changed over time and
continues to be difficult to define because our current
knowledge of biological science does not support the
idea that there are meaningful biological differences
between races.
Race, as a
social concept,
is a group of
people who
share similar
and distinct
physical
characteristics.
UNESCO
 Sociologists define race as a concept that is used to
signify different types of human bodies.
 Race research lead to interracial interactions which go
smoothly and lead to productive collaboration and
friendship.
 Racism consists of both prejudice
and discrimination based in social
perceptions of biological
differences between peoples.
(Oxford dictionary)
The rich racial diversity of
modern
humanity
owes
its
existence
to
geographic
separation and the reproductive
isolation this separation has
created
German Chancellor Angela
Merkel declared that in
Germany, multiculturalism
has "utterly failed.“
Both Australia's ex-prime
minister John Howard and
Spain's ex-prime minister
Jose Maria Aznar reached
the same conclusion about
multiculturalism in their
countries.
Multiculturalism was one of
our
country’s
social
revolutions
of
the
20th
century. In the 21st century—
a century in which American
global leadership may be
lacking—Canada needs a
socio-strategic revolution. We
need to find a way to unite
those communities in Canada
that would normally be
divided by an overseas
protracted
social
conflict
behind a shared foreign
policy approach.
Defence Minister Jason
Kenney is also
responsible for the
multiculturalism file in
Canada
“Our
country’s
policy
of
multiculturalism has brought the world
to Canada. Today, we need to use our
diversity to bring Canada to the world.”
(Zach Paikin –The Hill Times, London, England)
news@hilltimes.com
Questions?
Thank you for attention!