The Multiculturalism Backlash: European Discourses, Policies and Practices / Edition 1

by Steven Vertovec, Susanne Wessendorf

Overview

In a relatively short time, many European governments have been purposefully dropping the notion ‘multicultural’ or other references to cultural diversity in their policy vocabularies. More and more politicians and public intellectuals have criticized a perceived shift towards ‘too much diversity’. This volume goes beyond the conventional approaches to the topic offering a careful examination of not only the social conditions and political questions surrounding multiculturalism but also the recent emergence of a ‘backlash’ against multicultural initiatives, programmes and infrastructures.

Featuring case-study based contributions from leading experts throughout Europe and North America, this multidisciplinary work seeks to assess some of these key questions with reference to recent and current trends concerning multiculturalism, cultural diversity and integration in their respective countries, evaluating questions such as

• Is there is a common ‘sceptical turn’ against cultural diversity or a ‘backlash against difference’ sweeping Europe?
• How have public discourses impacted upon national and local diversity management and migration policies?
• Are the discourses and policy shifts actually reflected in everyday practices within culturally, linguistically and religiously diverse settings?

The Multiculturalism Backlash provides new insights, informed reflections and comparative analyses concerning these significant processes surrounding politics, policy, public debates and the place of migrants and ethnic minorities within European societies today. Focusing on the practice and policy of multiculturalism from a comparative perspective this work will be of interest to scholars from a wide range of disciplines including migration, anthropology and sociology.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415556491
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	12/17/2009
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Steven Vertovec is Director of the Max-Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Göttingen and Honorary Joint Professor of Sociology and Ethnology, University of Göttingen. Previously he was Professor of Transnational Anthropology at the Institute of Social andCultural Anthropology, University of Oxford and Director of the British Economic and Social ResearchCouncil’s Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS).

Susanne Wessendorf is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Max-Planck Institute for the Study Of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Göttingen, Germany. She has previously been an assistant lecturer At The Institute of Social Anthropology, University of Berne, Switzerland.

Table of Contents

Notes on contributors vii

1 Introduction: assessing the backlash against multiculturalism in Europe Steven Vertovec Susanne Wessendorf 1

2 The rise and fall of multiculturalism?: new debates on inclusion and accommodation in diverse societies Will Kymlicka 32

3 British and others: From 'race' to 'faith' Ralph Grillo 50

4 From toleration to repression: the Dutch backlash against multiculturalism Baukje Prins Sawitri Saharso 72

5 "We're not all multiculturalists yet': France swings between hard integration and soft anti-discrimination Patrick Simon Val?rie Sala Pala 92

6 Denmark versus multiculturalism Ulf Hedetoft 111

7 Switzerland: a multicultural country without multicultural policies? Gianni D'Amato 130

8 Germany: integration policy and pluralism in a self-conscious country of immigration Karen Sch?nw?lder 152

9 Dynamics of diversity in Spain: old questions, new challenges Ricard Zapata-Barrero 170

10 Multiculturalism: a Canadian defence David Ley 190

Index 207

Editorial Reviews

"In Western European politics, "the end of multiculturalism" has become a dogma. Here is finally a book that reopens the debate by distinguishing between political rhetoric, public opinion and public policies." - Rainer Bauböck, European University Institute, Florence

"Orchestrated predictions about "the end of multiculturalism" are shown, in this alert but finely-tuned collection, as emanating from a panic choir without a common score. Judiciously choosing seven European and two Canadian contrasts, it shows this empirically and deepens it theoretically." - Gerd Baumann, University of Amsterdam

From the Publisher