Multicultural City: reflecting the Multicultural City: reflecting the WorldWorld

“There never were, in the world, two opinions alike, no more than two hairs,

or two grains; the most universal quality is diversity.”

Michel Eyquem de Montaigne

MulticulturalismMulticulturalism is a body of thought in political philosophy about the proper way to respond to cultural and religious diversity. Mere toleration of group differences is said to fall short of treating members of minority groups as equal citizens [9].

MulticulturalismMulticulturalism relates to communities containing multiple cultures. The term is used in two broad ways, either descriptively (it refers to the simple fact of cultural diversity: schools, businesses, cities, nations) or normatively (it refers to ideologies or policies promoting this diversity)[10].

A multicultural society A multicultural society is a society where people of different races, cultural backgrounds and religious beliefs live, work and communicate with each other.

A multicultural society A multicultural society is not a patchwork of several

fixed cultural identities, but a network of crosscutting networks and identifications which are situated, contested, dynamic and fluid, and heavily dependent on context. [4]

The social, cultural and economic problems and opportunities of the city life lead to the cultural conflict and cultural dialogue between people of diverse backgrounds.

Photo: iностранец. – 2005. - № 4.

Multiculturalism becomes a major advantage of living in the modern society. It provides labor resources and cultural diversity to the countries all over the world that would otherwise be impacted by the decrease of population. However, this does not mean that life in a multicultural city comes without difficulties.

Photo: http://artworks.arts.gov/?tag=survey-of-public-participation-in-the-arts

The multifarious ethnic structure of most of the major metropolises in the XXI century is a product of migration which brings people from across the globe.

Photo: http://stacadvising.lmc.gatech.edu/?tag=culture-tech

The process of globalization is in the core of forming modern cities where different ethnic communities become a constitutive part of metropolitan multiculture.

A megalopolis’ diversity is defined by the demographics of its citizens. Visual demonstration of population composition in the most diverse cities of the world can present the reliable picture of the ethnic mix in modern society.

Source: Shrimpton H. Is London the "most diverse city" in the world?

Source: Shrimpton H. Is London the "most diverse city" in the world?

Source: Shrimpton H. Is London the "most diverse city" in the world?

Source: Shrimpton H. Is London the "most diverse city" in the world?

AdvantagesAdvantages DisadvantagesDisadvantages

• a diverse choice of cuisines, arts and festivals • ethnic segregation within urban areas

• a centre to get a tremendous range of legal work as many multinational corporations have their headquarters there

• inability to assimilate properly into society turning to criminal activities

• a unique cultural diversity enriching the local language and culture

• lack of interaction and communication on the score of cultural misunderstanding

• possibility to explore other customs and lifestyles • different cultural norms which arise prejudice among ethical groups

• a good way of learning to communicate in multilingual society

• problems to obtain valid education or employment caused by language barriers

• transformation of knowledge of the behavior of diverse cultures as part of self-identification

• people from various ethnic backgrounds may be treated differently what leads to discrimination

• sensitivity to other people's traditions • the negative treatment of minority group traditions, religious believes

Tolerance is the ability or willingness to tolerate the existence of opinions or behaviour that one dislikes or disagrees with. [5]

According to this definition tolerance means that people of different cultural backgrounds should develop the ability to endure the fact that others believe and live differently within a multicultural society or metropolis. Tolerance is an essential value which let various cultural societies implement intercultural interaction.

Intercultural dialogueIntercultural dialogue refers to an open and respectful

exchange of views between individuals and groups from different cultures. Such dialogue is based on mutual understanding, openness and a genuine respect for and appreciation of diversity, equal human dignity and equal human rights. [4]

Photo: «Пункт назначения - Канада», 2009.

Intercultural dialogue involves a positive attitude towards different beliefs and cultural practices.

It is a major priority for people coexisted in one metropolis to provide the wider society with new ideas of beauty and goodness, new social and personal norms.

Photo: Paraszkay György (Hungary): http://www.unesco.org/culture/dialogue/2010iyrc/posters.

The presentation is made by Svetlana Panfyorova,

the librarian of the Department of literature in foreign languages

Tula regional universal research library

Bibliography

1. Abbot, D. Multi-racial Britain [Electronic resource]/ by Diane Abbott. - 2011. -

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/modern/dabbott_01.shtml

2. Hurworth, C. The negative aspects of multiculturalism [Electronic resource]/ by C. Hurworth. - 2002-2012. – http://www.helium.com/items/1488279-can-multiculturalism-be-negative

3. Keith, M. After the cosmopolitan? Multicultural cities and the future of racism / Michael Keith. - London ; New York : Routledge, Tailor & Francis Group, 2005. – 246 p. ; The same [Electronic resource]. –

http://wxy.seu.edu.cn/humanities/sociology/htmledit/uploadfile/system/20100825/20100825035924897.pdf

4. Multicultural societies, pluricultural people and the project of intercultural education / by Michael Byram. - [S. l.], 2009. - 10 p. ; The same [Electronic resource]. –

http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/Source/LE_texts_Source/Multicult-InterculturalEduc_en.doc

5. The Oxford English dictionary [Electronic resource]. – 2012. - http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/tolerance

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7. Shrimpton, H. Is London the "most diverse city" in the world? [Electronic resource] / by Hanna Shimpton. -2012. - http://fullfact.org/factchecks/London_2012_Olympics_most_diverse_city-27738

8. Smith, L. Multicultural Britain : what does it mean? [Electronic resource] / L. Smith // AboutImmigration : [the site]. – [S. l.], 2000-2012. – http://www.aboutimmigration.co.uk/multicultural-britain-what-does-mean.html

9. Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy [Electronic resource]. - 2010. -

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/multiculturalism/

10. World as city: city as future [Electronic resource] // Metafuture.org : [the site]. – http://www.metafuture.org/Articles/multicultural_city_futures_with_addition.htm