Multiculturalism
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This constituted a loose collection of groups committed to a separatist creed, which included the Black Panthers and the Black Muslims (now the Nation of Islam) and was associated with figures such as Kwame Ture (formally Stokely Carmichael) (1941–98). The idea of black consciousness has nevertheless been revived by the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, founded in 2013. Initially committed to anti-racist advocacy and protest focused primarily around the issue of police violence, particularly since 2020 Black Lives Matter has developed into a genuinely global organization concerned with, among other things, the decolonization of culture, education and society. Politics of recognition Multiculturalists argue that minority cultural groups are disadvantaged in relation to majority groups, and that remedying this involves significant changes in society’s rules and institutions. As such, multiculturalism, in common with many other ideological traditions (not least socialism and feminism), is associated with the advancement of marginalized, disadvantaged or oppressed groups. However, multiculturalism draws from a novel approach to such matters, one that departs from conventional approaches to social advancement. Three contrasting approaches can be adopted, based, respectively, on the ideas of rights, redistribution and recognition (see Figure 11.1).
Approach
Main obstacle to advancement
Key theme
Reforms and policies
• Formal equality (legal and political rights) • Ban discrimination • Prohibit ethical/ cultural/racial profiling
Politics of rights (republicanism)
Legal and political exclusion
Universal citizenship
• Social rights • Welfare and redistribution • Positive discrimination
Politics of redistribution (social reformism)
Social disadvantage
Equality of opportunity
• Right to respect and recognition • Minority rights • Group self- determination
Politics of recognition (multiculturalism)
Cultural-based marginalization
Group self-assertion
Figure 11.1 Contrasting approaches to social advancement The notion of the ‘politics of rights’ is rooted in the ideas of republicanism (see p. 230), which are associated by many (but by no means all) with liberalism. Republicanism is concerned primarily with the problem of legal and political exclusion, the denial to certain groups of rights that are enjoyed by their fellow citizens. Republican thinking
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