Re: What is multiculturalism

Richard Spear (rspear@primenet.com)
Wed, 02 Aug 1995 00:46:59 GMT

mg_ivanovich@pnl.gov (Mike Ivanovich) wrote:
>I need a working definition for "multiculturalism" and the dictionaries
>that I have at home are not very helpful. Has anyone run across a
>definition for multiculuralism, or a "multiculturalist society" lately?
>Is a multiculturalist society different from a society that consists of
>many subcultures, such as in the U.S.?
Mike - that's an interesting question. I haven't run across a working
definition for multiculturalism (perhaps someone else has?) but when I
hear or see the term I *do* think that it is different from current
American patterns.

The thrust of the term infers that there is acceptance of and respect
for the continuance of other cultures in American society. This is
distinctly different from the "melting pot" goals of the turn of the
century and it seems to acknowledge the contributions that other
cultures can make via their diversity. There are links here to TQ
philosophies and Team concepts (for those familiar with organizational
cultures).

Richard