Multiculturalism: Foundations & Pillars
Multiculturalism: Foundations & Pillars
Chapter Two
Foundations and Pillars of Multiculturalism
2.1 Conceptualizing Multiculturalism
The concept of multiculturalism embodies a new orientation towards the future. It is a body of
thought in political philosophy about the proper way to respond to cultural and religious
diversity. In contrast with the concept of assimilation and social integration, it seeks to preserve
distinctly different ethnic, racial or cultural communities without melting them in to a common
culture.
The Harper Collins Dictionary of Sociology (1991) defines multiculturalism is the
acknowledgement and promotion of cultural pluralism as a feature of many societies. It
celebrates and seeks to protect cultural variety, for example, minority languages. At the same
time it focuses on the often unequal relationship of minority to mainstream cultures. It is thus
political, social, and cultural movement which aims to respect a multiplicity of diverging
perspectives outside the dominant traditions. Put differently, Multiculturalism is a term which
recognizes and celebrates cultural diversity. It accepts and respects the right of all to express and
share their individual cultural heritage. It also refers to the strategies, policies and programs that
are designed to:
• make administrative, social and economic infrastructure more responsive to the rights,
obligations and needs of culturally diverse population;
• promote social harmony among the different cultural groups in society;
• optimize the benefits of cultural diversity for all
In almost similar essence, Andrew Heywood (1998) also defines it as follows;
Multiculturalism can be used as both a descriptive and normative term. As a descriptive term
it refers to cultural diversity arising from the existence within a society of two or more
groups whose belief and practices generate a distinctive sense of collective identity.
Multiculturalism in this sense is invariably reserved for communal diversity that arises from
racial, ethnic or language differences. As a normative term, it implies a positive endorsement
of communal diversity, based either on the right of different cultural groups to respect and
recognition, or on the alleged benefits to the larger society of moral and cultural diversity.
Multiculturalism, in this sense, acknowledges the importance of beliefs, values and ways of
life in establishing self-understanding and a sense of self-worth for individuals and groups
alike.
For Caleb Rosado (1997) too, Multiculturalism is a system of beliefs and behaviors that
recognizes and respects the presence of all diverse groups in an organization or society,
acknowledges and values their socio cultural differences, and encourages and enables their
continued contribution with in an inclusive cultural context which empowers all within the
organization or society. Multiculturalism is a “system”, which make-up the whole of how
humans experience today’s world. It includes what people believe about others, their basic
paradigms, and how these impacts, and is impacted by, behavior. Multiculturalism is also means
respect of differences with recognition to safeguard the integrity, dignity, value of society. It
entails acknowledging the validity of the cultural expressions and contributions of the various
groups.
Typically, multiculturalism is a social doctrine that distinguishes itself as a positive alternative
for policy of assimilation, connoting a politics of recognition of the citizenship rights and
cultural identity of ethnic minority groups and, more generally, an affirmation of the value of
cultural diversity. It used as ‘demographic and descriptive’ usage, to an ‘ideology and norms’
usage and to a ‘programme and policy’ usage.
• Multiculturalism as a demographic social reality simply refers to the demographic
condition of contemporary societies which contains two or more ethnic groups whose
differing cultural traits are distinctive enough to enable the establishment and
maintenance of differing cultural identities and communities. For many, it simply refers
to the demographic fact of having many different cultural groups inhabiting one area.
• In the second sense, multiculturalism is understood as a normative claim or political
ideology, argues that this ethno-cultural diversity should be accommodated, not
suppressed, and celebrated, not feared. In this sense, multiculturalism stands opposed to
traditional models of nation building and nationalism that sought to create homogeneous
national societies within. In a political context it has come to mean the advocacy of
extending equitable state to distinct ethnic and religious groups without promoting any
specific ethnic, religious, and/or cultural community values as central.
In the third sense, it is the policy or practice of giving equal attention or representation to the
cultural needs and contributions of all the groups in a society: special emphasis may be given to
minority groups underrepresented in the past. As a public policy multiculturalism assigns rights,
the society. Tolerance means a non-critical acceptance of just about everything someone says or
does – the more you accept, the more tolerant you are.
In another way tolerance also can be define as the embracing and celebration of the opinions,
practices, or behaviors of others. Tolerance is the appreciation of diversity and the ability to live
and let others live with together in peaceful manner. It is the ability to exercise a fair and
objective attitude towards those whose opinion, practices, religion, nationality, ethnic group,
language, life style, norms and so on differ from one’s own. It is not just agreeing with one
another or remaining indifferent in the face of injustice but rather showing respect for the
essential humanity in every person without considering the difference. Being tolerant remains
key to easing hostile tensions between groups and to helping communities move past intractable
conflict.
Tolerance does not require us to accept other people's beliefs or behaviors but it does require us
to respect every person's freedom of conscience. As a result tolerance must include respect for
moral and religious, cultural, lifestyle conscience of the people. Tolerance means about
acceptance of pluralism, acceptance of different ethnic groups, cultural and religious diversity.
Tolerances refer to not interfering with practices or forms of life of a person even if one
disapproves of them. Tolerance refers to a character trait or virtue that an agent may have or may
strive to acquire and possession of the virtue of tolerance makes one more disposed to perform
acts of toleration in the primary sense than one would be otherwise. Tolerance seems like a core
for human virtue, essential for democracy and civilized life. The absence of tolerance is at the
root of much evil, peer cruelty, unjust discrimination, hate crimes, religious and political
persecution, and terrorism. Tolerance also defined, as the ability to accept the values and beliefs
of others. Tolerance is institutional arrangements and public policies that fight negative
stereotyping and promote positive inclusive identities and reorganize the public space in ways
that accommodate diversity lies at the core of accept pluralism. Tolerance means to refrain from
objecting to something with which one does not agree. Tolerance promotes peaceful co-existence
between diverse groups and favors for individual self-actualization. It means that peaceful co-
existence with in diversity to live together in harmony as well as non-violent ways of resolving
conflict. The need for tolerance is not, because of an epidemic of hate crimes, but because of the
much more mundane and daily social interactions that require treating each other with respect
and dignity of human being.
In opposite to this intolerance means the failure to appreciate and respect the practices, opinions
religions cultures values and beliefs of another group. Intolerance will drive groups apart,
creating a sense of permanent separation before them. Intolerance between individuals is
perpetuated when individuals base their impressions and opinions of one another on
assumptions. These assumptions can be influenced by the positive or negative beliefs most
influential in their lives including parents or other family members, colleagues, educators or role
models. Tolerance is the acceptance of difference with respect to ethnic groups, religion,
languages, color etc. Toleration of diversity means to acceptance of other people’s views,
customs, religions, values etc. This acceptance of differences would allow people to live together
peacefully and promote the existence of multiculturalism. In countries where there is diversity,
tolerance should be capitalized.
B. Equality and Egalitarian Society
Equality is the condition of enjoying substantially similar rights privileges and protection, and
being subjected to similar duties as well as equal protection before the law guarantees that
persons in equal status or level should be treated equally. Equality and egalitarianism in the
society is one the features of multiculturalism. The term egalitarianism is derived from the
French word "egal," meaning equal. In 18th century, the term "equalitarianism" was also
commonly used to refer to it. The Concept of Egalitarianism is an old-age phenomenon,
however, no society is happy about the existence of social inequality and most member of any
society envision a society in which all members are equal and receive equal treatment; such a
society is referred to as an “equalitarian society’’.
Egalitarianism is a philosophical thought or system that emphasizes equality and equal
treatment across gender, religion, economic status and political beliefs of the society. Therefore,
egalitarianism is an ideology, principle or doctrine referring to equal rights, benefits and
opportunities or equal treatment for all citizens of a society. This is opposed to the elitist
ideology, which refers to a few people or a selected group of people receiving some preferential
treatment mainly because of some social advantages they have over the majority of the members
of the society.
Egalitarianism may focus on income inequality and distribution, which are ideas that influenced
the development of various economic and political systems. Karl Marx looked the term
‘’egalitarianism’’ as a starting point in the creation of his Marxist philosophy that is socialism or
communism, and John Locke considered “egalitarianism’’ as all individuals had natural rights.
According to the Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy, “Egalitarianism” means equality or,
rarely, equalitarianism is a trend of thought that favors equality for particular categories of, or for
all, living entities. Egalitarian doctrines maintain that all humans are equal in fundamental worth,
social status or in all aspects. In the opinion of Woods and Barrow, Egalitarian person is that
who advocated that the principle of equality is one and the same thing the principle of
impartiality. An impartial person is one who is fair and just for all people and does not
discriminate between them for no just cause. Impartiality does not, however, connote
nondiscrimination in all circumstances. An impartial person may discriminate between people
but does so with good reasons. According to him, impartiality means treating people the same
way in identical circumstances. An egalitarian is a person who believes in the equality of all
people, and an egalitarian society gives everyone equal rights. This is a word that means
something close to equality and has to do with fairness. If you believe that everyone deserves a
chance to vote, to go to school, get good jobs, and participate in society, then you are an
egalitarian and also when laws make life fairer, the law is getting more egalitarian. Therefore,
egalitarianism is that of a principle in which all people in a society have equal rights and revenue
impartial treatment in the same circumstances. According to the Mirriam-Webster Dictionary,
the term egalitarianism has two distinct definitions in modern English. It is defined either as a
political doctrine that all people should be treated as equals and have the same political,
economic, social, and civil rights or as a social philosophy advocating the removal of economic
inequalities among people or the decentralization of power.
D) Trust
It is positive expectation that another will not through words, actions or decisions etc. Trust
refers to the status of being confidence in and having good qualities especially fairness, truth
honor about others. Trust is one of the pillars of multiculturalism and in the presence of
multiculturalism it needs trust. It implies that trust and pluralism under going in a parallel way.
E) Respect
It is a feeling of admiring someone or something that is good, valuable and important. It is a
feeling or understanding that someone or something is important, serious, etc., and should be
treated in an appropriate way a particular way of thinking about or looking at something. Respect
refers to feel admiration for someone or something regarding to someone or something as being
worthy of admiration because of good qualities to act in a way which shows that you are aware
of someone's rights, wishes and to treat or deal with something that is good or valuable in a
proper way. Respect is a way of treating or thinking about something or someone. Respect is also
a felling or an attitude of admiration, with having great respecting towards, difference giving
consideration or good thoughtfulness for other’s culture, language, ethnic groups, values and
norms. Respect and multiculturalism has direct relationship due to the reason that when we
respect and recognized the existence of different diversity such as cultural diversity, religious
diversity and ethnic diversity, as the same time we are promote multiculturalism. Respect in the
countries there is diverse society; the rights of people should be respected and people should be
allowed r to develop their own cultures, languages and they should also accept other’s with their
own beliefs, cultures and languages. Finally respecting of diversity maximizes the presence of
plural society. Therefore respect also one of the components of multiculturalism.
F) Institutionalization
It refers to the process of opening a group, community, and place organization, to all regardless
of race, ethnicity religion, gender or social and political classes. Institutionalization involves a
purposeful effort to incorporate knowledge at the organizational level so that it may persist and
be available for future re-use. Institutionalization is the process through which the “learning that
has occurred by individuals and groups with a society. Institutionalization is embedded in the
design of the systems, structures, and procedures of the organization that adapts with their
policies. It is also the process of becoming an accepted member of a group or community and
also it is a combination of individuals, parts for working together in a pattern ways.
Institutionalization means to put somebody in to an institution or becoming institutionalized in to
a given society. It is to make something an established custom or an accepted part of the
structure of a large organization or society. In another way it means convert something in to an
institution or make something resemble to an institution. Finally, institutionalization is one of the
pillars of multiculturalism.
G) Integration
It refers to the process of opening a group, community, place, the organization to all regardless
of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, or social and political classes. Integration is a broader term
encompassing different dimensions. These are economic integration that means society comes in
to integrate in the issues of economy or economic purpose. Political integration refers to the
integration of the community due to the reason that for political participation and political
affairs. Social integration refers to the networks and spaces of civil society, from informal
networks of friends and neighbors to membership in more formal organizations. “Integration can
be defined as: A social, economic and political process involving the insertion of immigrants into
a specific country. Integration requires effort by migrants to adapt to their new reality and effort
by the host population to adapt to the presence and participation of migrants in the society. It is
also process of becoming an accepted member of a group or community and also it is a
combination of individuals, parts for working together in pattern ways. Integration: means the
process of coordinating separate personality, elements in to a balanced whole or producing
behavior compatible with somebody’s environment.
2.3 Theoretical and Philosophical Foundations of Multiculturalism
Most modern states today are, at least to some degree, culturally diverse. However, that gives
rise to the problem of multiculturalism. It gives rise to the question of the degree to which
cultural diversity should be accepted or tolerated, as well as to the question of how cultural
diversity should be accommodated. When people from diverse traditions have to co-exist within
a single society, a number of issues have to be settled so that the ground rules governing their
common life are clear and generally accepted. There has to be some clear understanding not only
of what kind of conduct is acceptable or required in public, but also of what kinds of matters are
matters of legitimate public concern. This means that it has to be clear, for example, what is the
language of public discourse, what kinds of holidays are recognized, what customs are to be
tolerated, what standards of public conduct and appearance may be expected, and what rights and
obligations individuals and communities enjoy or owe. Societies may respond to the fact of
cultural diversity in a variety of ways, not all of which involve an acceptance of the idea of a
multicultural society. There are two contending theoretical perspective regarding the practical
implementation of multicultural doctrine such as:
Liberal perspective (multiculturalism should give priority for individuals).
Communitarian Perspective (focus on social sphere and the community).
2.3.1 Liberal perspective of Multiculturalism
The liberal perspective conceptualizes multiculturalism based on the liberal values of autonomy
and equality. The underlying assumption of liberal perspective on multiculturalism is that the
principal task of government is to secure and distribute fairly and economic resources individual
need to lead freely chosen lives. According to liberal view multiculturalism is instrumentally
valuable to individuals for two reasons.
First, it enables individual autonomy. One of the most important conditions of autonomy is
having an adequate range of options from which to choose. Culture provides context of choice,
which provide and make meaningful the social scripts and narratives from which people fashion
their lives.
Second, culture is instrumentally valuable for individual self-respect. The liberal perspective
argues that there is a deep and general connection between a people’s self-respect and the respect
accorded to the cultural group of which is a part.
It is not simply membership in any culture but one’s own culture that must be secured because of
the great difficulty of giving up it. The liberalists focus on these premises about the instrumental
value of cultural membership to the egalitarian claim that because members of minority groups
are disadvantage in terms of access to their own cultures in contrast to members of the majority
culture and they are entitled for special protection. It is worth nothing that liberal egalitarian
argument for cultural accommodations reflects a central idea of a broader body of what critics of
the view identified as luck egalitarianism. Luck egalitarian argues that individual should be held
responsible for in equalities from their own choice, but not for inequalities deriving from un-
chosen circumstances. The latter in equalities are the collective responsibility of citizens to
redress, because of the fact that in equalities stemming from membership in a minority culture is
un-chosen. Minority group rights are justified a within liberal egalitarian theory which
emphasizes the important of rectifying un-chosen in equalities.
Liberalist theories of multiculturalism contend that anti-discrimination laws fall short treating
of members of minority groups as equals; this is because states cannot be neural with respect to
culture. Liberal multiculturalism argues that assisting cultural minority through exemptions and
accommodation is what egalitarian justice requires. While offered as a general normative
argument for minority cultural groups, liberal multiculturalists distinguish among different types
of groups. Liberal perspective of multiculturalism focused on individual rights and their self-
government of minorities because their minority status is un- chosen and they were incorporated
in to the larger groups. To sum up the liberal perspectives of multiculturalism:
Liberal are ethical individuals and they argues that individuals should be free to choose
and pursuit their own conceptions of the good life.
It considers people in all societies and all cultures have essentially the same inner
identity.
They give up primacy to individual rights and liberties over community life and
collective goods.
Liberalists are individualists when they become to social ontology what they call
individualism or atomism. Atomism believes that you can and should account for social
actions and social goods in terms of properties of the constituent individuals and
individual goods.
2.3.2. Communitarian Perspective of Multiculturalism
Communitarianism is the belief that the self or person is constituted through the community in
the sense that individuals are shaped by the communities to which they belong and thus own
them a debt of respect and consideration. Communitarianism arose as a philosophical revolt
against liberal universalism, the belief that, individuals, people in all societies and all cultures
have essentially the same ‘inner identity”. Communitarianism has tried to dissolve from
traditional liberalism. It refers to the values of the community and common welfare as value is
opposed to the individual value and to the individual capitalism. Communitarianism philosophers
portray this idea of the abstract individual or self-imaginative as a recipe for rootless atomism.
One justification for multiculturalism arises out of the communitarian critique of the liberalism is
that communitarians reject the idea that the individual is prior to the community and that the
value of social goods can be reduced to their contribution to individual wellbeing.
The communitarianism perspective of multiculturalism is one which centralizes the social sphere
and more specifically the community. In fact the formulation of values and order within the
community are favored above the formulation of such aspects on an individual level.
Consequently, communitarians have a vested interest in the social units through which values are
transmitted and enforced. These include the family, schools and other community based
organizations. Whilst all communitarians uphold the general importance of community, they
differ in the extent to which they emphasize individual liberties and rights.
dangerous and irresponsible behavior specifically for sexual norms, the drug and so on, but the
libertarians assumption is that the state has no business being involved in what they see
victimless crimes but also others criticize this issues as a threats of the society.
Other criticizes of the liberalism is as’’ a form of arrogant nihilism’’ that is both tolerant of
nontraditional lifestyle like that for recreational purpose drug use and intolerant lifestyle towards
other views. They criticizes as you did not turn children in to responsible as adult by giving them
absolute freedom but you can promote good character by limiting freedom and by channeling
energies in to the most productive one.
Libertarians wrongly seek to maximize freedom without considerations the result of freedoms.
This criticism is based on the notions of the incommensurability of values and liberty but one
good that must compete with others, rather than all goods being reducible to one simple measure
utility. Liberalism perspective criticizes as a belief that practical outcomes of capitalism with full
liberty, as abstract ideas do not exist in a vacuum and thus the concept of liberty needs to be
validated by a process of reason with an underlying philosophy of rational selfishness.
Communitarianism perspective of multiculturalism emphasizes on common goods socialization,
the health of the community by the supporter of government interventions. For example the
criticizes of common on ownership of private property, is that the right to ownership of property
is recognized by the government and defended by the government agencies such as police forces,
who can use force to defended ownership of property and courts. As we know, people are born in
to classes with differing levels of property ownership based on reasons unrelated to their own
effort or innovations, but there is nothing about the right to ownership. It means no one has any
freedom to use it. As a result this perspective considered as the backward perspective of
multiculturalism that focused on communal life of the society. Generally communitarianism
perspective of multiculturalism criticizes as doctrine that downgrading of the motives of
individuals of on working skill, innovation skill and also reduces the productivity of individuals
as well as it is hindrance on the development of the state.
2.4 The Modern State and Issues off Multiculturalism
The question of multiculturalism has been central to the political concerns of European countries
since 1945. It covers a number of different issues and which of them predominates has varied
with differing political circumstances. It reflected the concern of immigration and the ways in
which immigrants might settle in Western Europe in the 1950s and 1960s. The issue of
multiculturalism has been broadly discussed by scholars and philosophers in 19th century. The
issue of multiculturalism includes a variety of different problems, which are taken new shapes
according to the different political circumstances where they manifest themselves. During some
past decades a multi-culturalist perspective has been adopted by public policy as framework in
different countries in order to deal with cultural diversity which resulted especially the
immigration policy of the countries.
The idea of multicultural society has its roots in nation-states, throughout their histories, when
confronted with international migration such as, in Canada, United States and Australia. These
states are conventionally referred as examples of various forms of multicultural society that
accommodated through nation states public policies. Racial, ethnic, cultural, and language
diversity is increasing in nation states throughout the world because of worldwide immigration.
The deepening ethnic diversity within nation-states and the quest by different groups for cultural
recognition and rights are challenging assimilations notions policy of state and forcing states to
construct new conceptions of multiculturalism policy. A delicate balance of unity and diversity
should be an essential goal of modern multicultural states. The increasing ethnic, cultural,
language, and religious diversity in nation-states throughout the world has raised new questions
and possibilities about multiculturalism policy. Since World War II, nation-states throughout the
Western world have become more diversified because of immigration and other factors. Ethnic
and cultural diversity in the Western European nations such as the United Kingdom, France,
Germany, and the Netherlands increased greatly after World War II. Groups from the former
colonies of these nations in Asia, Africa, and the West Indies immigrated to Europe to satisfy
labor needs and to improve their economic status.
The ideology of multiculturalism consists in the idea that society has the capacity to welcome
and integrate differences. Almost all European countries are implementing multicultural policy
as national policy. But it is now posing economic, political as well as demographic problem like
xenophobia and conflict on religious ground from native citizen.
2.4.1. Nation-state and Citizenship
The term ‘nation’ implies the existence of a ‘national identity’, which in turn can be described as
a ‘feeling of belonging’ to the nation. But identity is complex and multidimensional, and no
single definition of ‘nation’’. A nation is a named and self-defining human community whose
members cultivate shared memories, symbols, myths, traditions and values inhabit and are
attached to historic territories or homelands, create and disseminate a distinctive public culture,
and observe shared customs and standardized laws. The nation-state is one where the great
majority is conscious of a common identity and share the same culture. A nation is a people who
share similar cultural characteristics including shares a common language, cultures, customs,
ethnic groups, origin or ancestry and a distinct history. Nation: connotes the concept of people
who are conscious of their historical and cultural background and who wish to perpetuate this
background politically within the framework of a state. Nations are culturally homogeneous
group of people, larger than a single tribe or community. While a nation is cultural, ethnic and
especially a linguistic grouping of people who feel that they belong together. Nation-a group of
society who feel common racial, ethnic, cultural, language, religion, historical back ground,
psychological makeup.
Nation-State refers to a political state whose borders encompass the entirety of a nation and that
shares a common languages, cultures, ethnic groups and history. Nation-states typically have a
majority “nation” whose culture is predominant the minority ethnic groups. People who live in
the nation-state are citizens whose rights are protected by the state.
Origin of the Nation-State: Nation state is originated in Europe between 1450 and 1650. After
the Treaty of Westphalia, which was ended the 1648 marked that the beginning of what we know
today as the nation-state system. The concept of the "nation state" was born, where "The
Ratification of the Treaty of Münster “one of the treaties leading to the Peace of Westphalia in
1648.
What did the Treaty of Westphalia Say? Do you know it?
The Westphalia Treaty stated that state borders were rigidly defined and states become the main
actors for international diplomacy.
Nation state is a sovereign state inhabited by a relatively homogeneous group of people who
share a feeling of common nationality. A nation state is a type of state that conjoins the political
entity of a state to the cultural entity of a nation, from which it aims to derive its political
legitimacy to rule and potentially its status as a sovereign state if one accepts the declarative
theory of statehood as opposed to the constitutive theory. It also expressed about sovereignty and
citizenship. Sovereignty refers to the quality of having independent authority over a geographic
territory and the population of the territory and for a state to be sovereign, it has to be recognized
by other states and also the obtaining recognition highly political as well as the states might be
deny or grant recognition for their own political goals. In addition to sovereignty the Westphalia
Treaty stated also about citizenship which states claims that responsibility for their citizens.
Nation–state: a form of political organization in which a group of people who share the same
history, traditions, or language live in a particular area under one government. Nation state can
be also a form of political organization under which a relatively homogeneous people inhabits a
sovereign state; especially, a state containing one as opposed to several nationalities. Nation–
state refers to a group of people with the same culture, language etc. who have formed an
independent country. Places like France, Egypt, Germany, and Japan are excellent examples.
The nation-state is an area where the cultural boundaries match up with the political boundaries.
The ideal of 'nation-state' is that the state incorporates people of a single ethnic stock and cultural
traditions. However, most contemporary states are poly-ethnic. Thus, it can be argued that the
nation-state "would exist if nearly all the members of a single nation were organized in a single
state, without any other national communities being present’’. The term "nation state" implies
that the two coincide, in that a state has chosen to adopt and endorse a specific cultural group as
associated with it. "Nation state" formation can take place at different times in different parts of
the world. The concept of a nation state can be compared and contrasted with that of the
multinational state, city state, empire, confederation, and other state formations with which it
may overlap. Nation states have their own characteristics, differing from those of the prenational
states. For a start, they have a different attitude to their territory when compared with dynastic
monarchies: it is semi sacred and nontransferable. No nation would swap territory with other
states simply, for example, because the king's daughter married. They have a different type of
border, in principle defined only by the area of settlement of the national group, although many
nation states also sought natural borders such as rivers, mountain and ranges. They are constantly
changing in population size and power because of the limited restrictions of their borders. The
most noticeable characteristic is the degree to which nation states use the state as an instrument
of national unity, in economic, social and cultural life.
A state is specifically a political and geopolitical entity, at the same time as a nation is a cultural
and ethnic one. State is an organized community living under a single government which has
exclusive control over its own territory and States are responsible for their citizens’ welfare.
Nationality is supposed to bind the citizen to the state, a bond that will be increasingly tied to the
advantages of a social policy in as much as the welfare state wills develop.
Nationalism refers to an ideological aimed for attaining and maintaining the identity, unity
through social cohesion or autonomy through national self-determination of a nation or those
united under a national banner. Nationalism means an ideology of political movement seeking
some form of autonomy or independent statehood; of groups striving to achieve or improve their
cultural, political, social, economic rights, within a given state. Nationalism refers to ‘ideological
movement for attaining and maintaining autonomy, unity and identity on behalf of a population
deemed by some of its members to constitute an actual or potential nation’. This movement often
relies on the idea of a shared national heritage. Referring to cultural forms of the nation, national
heritage consists of shared memories, values, myths, symbols and traditions as well as the
recurrent activities of the members of the nation. Nationalism is a set of cultural forms that
characterize a specific nation and which provide for the framework within which the members of
the nation are socialized. The phenomenon of nationalism bears closely upon such political
concepts as the right to self-determination, rights of national and ethnic sovereignty, territorial
integrity or unity.
2.4.2. Individualism and Universal Citizenship
The term "citizenship" refers to an identity between a person and a city, state or nation and their
right to work live and participate politically in a particular geographic area. When combined with
the term "global", it typically defines a person who places their identity with a "global
community" above their identity as a citizen of a particular nation or place. The idea is that one’s
identity transcends geography or political borders and that responsibilities or rights are or can be
derived from membership in a broader class that is "humanity". This does not mean that such a
person denounces or waives their nationality or other, more local identities, but such identities
are given "second place" to their membership in a global community. Extended, the idea leads to
questions about the state of global society in the age of globalization. Global citizenship or world
citizenship typically defines a person who places their identity with a "global community" above
their identity as a citizen of a particular nation or place. The idea is that one’s identity transcends
geography or political borders and that the planetary human community is interdependent and
whole; humankind is essentially one. The term has been used in education and political
philosophy and has enjoyed popular use in social movements such as the "World Citizen"
movement and the Mondialisation movement.
Global citizens are curious about the world and understanding its history and global citizens are
also compassionate and also understand that stereotypes need to be broken as well as they are
willing to learn about other cultures and the people within these cultures. A global citizen is an
open-minded person to all cultures of the world and they know what is going on in the world
and want to use languages in the future. A global citizen is an open-minded person who is aware
and respectful of other cultures and has a willingness to learn and explore it. In another way, a
global citizen is a person who shows interest in other cultures and is aware and accepting of
cultural differences and a person who has a desire to further his/her understanding of
culture ,language, norms, and music. A global citizen is accepting and respectful of other
cultures and patient with people of different backgrounds. They also actively seek information
and global perspectives and experiences. They also able to step outside of his/her comfort zone
and not have expectations and being aware of the history and events in other parts of the world.
Global citizen is an individual who is open-minded who is not afraid to embrace new
experiences and the independent person attempts to communicate in other languages and
communicates within other cultures as well as they have willingness to accept other cultures,
while respectfully sharing their own. A global citizen is aware of other cultures by trying new
things and understanding and respecting other people’s cultures and seeing their culture through
their perspective. A global citizen recognizes different global cultures are interconnected and
actively works to stretch beyond their local bubble to connect with, understand, and experience
cultures worldwide and also a global citizen is someone who is aware of differences and accepts
those differences in others. Also, Global citizen means that you:
Think beyond your culture
Take steps to improve our global mind
Learn about other cultures—but be aware of your own – and how they overlap
Immerse one in other cultures
Teach others about one’s culture
Bring back/share your experiences and recognize that the world is much more
interconnected.
Individualism vs. Universalism
Individualism: leaves people free to contribute to the collective as and if they wish ultimately
however, they are free to take their own decisions and lead their lives as they will. Equally, you
are free to make your own mistakes, and there is little loss of face when you do. Individualism is
characterized by frequent use of “I”, decision are made on the spot by representatives, people
ideally achieve alone and assume personal responsibility, vacations taken in pairs or even in
alone and group orientation.
Universalism: says good and bad can be defined for all circumstances; you see the world as
being black and white, with few shades of grey. Right is right, and wrong is wrong and a
contract, agreement or commitment is fixed and there is a clear distinction between what is true
and a lie in international sphere or universally acceptable. Universalism is characterized by
frequent use of “we” decisions referred back by the delegates to the organization people ideally
achieve objectives in groups and assume joint responsibility vacations are taken in organized
groups of with extended family or society.