Editing Multiculturalism (section)

==Prevalence==
===History===
States that embody multicultural ideals have arguably existed since ancient times. The [[Achaemenid Empire]] founded by [[Cyrus the Great]] followed a policy of incorporating and tolerating various cultures.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Menek |first1=İbrahim Halil |title=A HISTORICAL EXAMPLE OF MULTICULTURALISM: ACHAEMENID EMPIRE MULTICULTURALISM |journal=Gaziantep Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi |date=26 May 2020 |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=118–138 |url=https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/gauniibf/issue/54503/626711 |language=en |issn=2651-267X}}</ref>
[[File:Austria Hungary ethnic.svg|thumb|[[Ethnographic]] map of [[Austria-Hungarian Empire]]]]

A historical example of multiculturalism was the [[Habsburg monarchy]], which had broken up in 1918 and under whose roof many different ethnic, linguistic and religious groups lived together. The Habsburg rule was mired in controversy, including events such as the [[Siculicidium|mass murder committed against Székelys by the Habsburg army]] in 1764 and the destruction of Romanian [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] Churches and Monasteries in [[Transylvania]] by Adolf Nikolaus von Buccow.<ref>Georges Castellan, A History of the Romanians, Boulder: East European Monographs, 1989, p. 109. ISBN 0880331542</ref> Both events had happened during the rule of [[Maria Theresa]]. Today's topical issues such as social and cultural differentiation, multilingualism, competing identity offers or multiple cultural identities have already shaped the scientific theories of many thinkers of this multi-ethnic empire.<ref>Doris Griesser "Denkanstöße aus der Multikulti-Monarchie" in: Standard, 3 July 2012; Pieter M. Judson "The Habsburg Empire. A New History" (Harvard 2016); Christopher Clark "The Sleepwalkers" (New York 2012).</ref> After the First World War, ethnic minorities were disadvantaged, forced to emigrate or even murdered in most regions in the area of the former Habsburg monarchy due to the prevailing nationalism at the time. In many areas, these ethnic mosaics no longer exist today. The ethnic mix of that time can only be experienced in a few areas, such as in the former Habsburg port city of [[Trieste]].<ref>Patricia Engelhorn "Wie Wien mit Meersicht: Ein Tag in der Hafenstadt Triest" In: NZZ 15 February 2020.</ref>

In the [[political philosophy]] of multiculturalism, ideas are focused on the ways in which societies are either believed to or should, respond to cultural and Christian differences. It is often associated with "identity politics", "the politics of difference", and "the politics of recognition". It is also a matter of economic interests and political power.<ref>[http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/multiculturalism/ Multiculturalism] – Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy</ref> In more recent times political multiculturalist ideologies have been expanding in their use to include and define disadvantaged groups such as African Americans and the [[LGBT]] community, with arguments often focusing on ethnic and religious minorities, minority nations, [[indigenous peoples]] and even people with disabilities. It is within this context in which the term is most commonly understood and the broadness and scope of the definition, as well as its practical use, has been the subject of serious debate.

Most debates over multiculturalism center around whether or not multiculturalism is the appropriate way to deal with diversity and immigrant integration. The arguments regarding the perceived rights to a multicultural education include the proposition that it acts as a way to demand recognition of aspects of a group's culture subordination and its entire experience in contrast to a melting pot or non-multicultural societies.

The term multiculturalism is most often used in reference to Western nation-states, which had seemingly achieved a de facto single national identity during the 18th and/or 19th centuries.<ref name="ZarateLevy2011">{{cite book|author1=Geneviève Zarate|author2=Danielle Levy|author3=Claire Kramsch|title=Handbook of Multilingualism and Multiculturalism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DYL4_6SvxewC&pg=PA377|date=19 April 2011|publisher=Archives contemporaines|isbn=978-2-8130-0039-2|page=377}}</ref>
Multiculturalism has been official policy in several [[Western world|Western nations]] since the 1970s, for reasons that varied from country to country,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unesco.org/most/pp4.htm |title=Policy Paper no. 4 – Multiculturalism: New Policy Responses to Diversity |publisher=Unesco.org |access-date=10 December 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pch.gc.ca/pgm/ai-ia/rir-iro/gbll/divers/index-eng.cfm |title=Multiculturalism in Canada |publisher=Pch.gc.ca |date=9 April 2009 |access-date=10 December 2010 |archive-date=10 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610171748/http://www.pch.gc.ca/pgm/ai-ia/rir-iro/gbll/divers/index-eng.cfm |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www4.gu.edu.au/ext/civics/cv02/mod03/cv02m03t02.htm |title=Immigration and Multiculturalism |publisher=.gu.edu.au |access-date=10 December 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110219034150/http://www4.gu.edu.au/ext/civics/cv02/mod03/cv02m03t02.htm |archive-date=19 February 2011 }}</ref> including the fact that many of the great cities of the Western world are increasingly made of a mosaic of cultures.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unu.edu/dialogue/papers/claval-s2.pdf |title=Multiculturalism and the Dynamics of Modern Civilizations |access-date=10 December 2010 |archive-date=2 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100602064848/http://www.unu.edu/dialogue/papers/claval-s2.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The Canadian government has often been described as the instigator of multicultural ideology because of its public emphasis on the social importance of immigration.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1163/15718119720907408|title=Immigration, Multiculturalism and National Identity in Canada|journal= International Journal of Group Rights|first=Shara|last=Wayland|year=1997|volume=5|issue=1|pages= 33–58}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/ujjal-dosanjh-by-silencing-white-men-canada-cant-have-an-honest-debate-about-equality-race-and-culture|title=Ujjal Dosanjh: By silencing white men, Canada can't have an honest debate about equality, race and culture|date=4 January 2016|newspaper=National Post|access-date=16 January 2017}}</ref> The Canadian [[Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism]] is often referred to as the origins of modern political awareness of multiculturalism.<ref name="II2010.">{{cite book|author=Ronald L. Jackson, II|title=Encyclopedia of Identity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C2WmSCOBR2IC&pg=PA480|date=29 June 2010|publisher=SAGE|isbn=978-1-4129-5153-1|page=480}}</ref> Canada has provided provisions to the French speaking majority of Quebec, whereby they function as an autonomous community with special rights to govern the members of their community, as well as establish French as one of the official languages. In the Western English-speaking countries, multiculturalism as an official national policy started in Canada in 1971, followed by Australia in 1973 where it is maintained today.<ref name="Reference">{{cite web |url=http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/our-country |title=About Australia: Our Country |publisher=australia.gov.au |access-date=25 October 2013 |archive-date=27 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120227080043/http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/our-country |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite web |url=http://www.dfat.gov.au/facts/people_culture.html |title=About Australia: People, culture and lifestyle |publisher=Dfat.gov.au |access-date=25 October 2013 |archive-date=12 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120512195954/http://dfat.gov.au/facts/people_culture.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="hon-tony">{{cite web|title=The Hon. Tony Abbott MP Press Release - A Team to Build a Stronger Australia |website= Liberal Party of Australia |date=2013-09-16 |url=http://www.liberal.org.au/latest-news/2013/09/16/hon-tony-abbott-mp-press-release-team-build-stronger-australia|publisher=liberal.org.au|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131106010039/http://www.liberal.org.au/latest-news/2013/09/16/hon-tony-abbott-mp-press-release-team-build-stronger-australia|archive-date=6 November 2013}}</ref><ref name="policy">{{cite web|title=The People of Australia – Australia's Multicultural Policy|url=http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/multicultural/pdf_doc/people-of-australia-multicultural-policy-booklet.pdf|publisher=Department of Immigration and Citizenship|access-date=14 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140212145223/https://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/multicultural/pdf_doc/people-of-australia-multicultural-policy-booklet.pdf|archive-date=12 February 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> Recently, right-of-center governments in several European Union states – notably the [[Netherlands]] and [[Denmark]] – have reversed the national policy and returned to an official monoculturalism.<ref name = Bissoondath>Bissoondath, Neil. 2002. ''Selling Illusions: The Myth of Multiculturalism''. Toronto: Penguin. {{ISBN|978-0-14-100676-5}}.</ref> A similar reversal is the subject of debate in the United Kingdom, among others, due to evidence of incipient segregation and anxieties over "home-grown" [[terrorism]].<ref>[http://www.workpermit.com/news/2005_04_26/uk/uk_immigration_debate.htm Fact or fiction in the great UK immigration debate]. workpermit.com. News. 26 April 2005. Retrieved: 21 October 2007.</ref> Several heads-of-state or heads-of-government have expressed doubts about the success of multicultural policies: The United Kingdom's ex-Prime Minister [[David Cameron]], German [[Chancellor]] [[Angela Merkel]], Australia's ex-prime minister [[John Howard]], Spanish ex-prime minister [[José María Aznar]] and French ex-president [[Nicolas Sarkozy]] have voiced concerns about the effectiveness of their multicultural policies for integrating immigrants.<ref name="PeskinWehrle2011">{{cite book|author1=Lawrence A. Peskin|author2=Edmund F. Wehrle|title=America and the World: Culture, Commerce, Conflict|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KTezRgjW5osC&pg=PA262|access-date=31 January 2012|date=17 November 2011|publisher=JHU Press|isbn=978-1-4214-0296-3|pages=262–}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Heneghan |first=Tom |date=11 February 2011 |title=Sarkozy joins allies burying multiculturalism |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-sarkozy-multiculturalism-idUSTRE71A4UP20110211 |work=Reuters|access-date=2 November 2019}}</ref>

Many nation-states in Africa, Asia, and the Americas are culturally diverse and are 'multicultural' in a descriptive sense. In some, ethnic communalism is a major political issue. The policies adopted by these states often have parallels with multiculturalist policies in the Western world, but the historical background is different, and the goal may be a mono-cultural or [[Monoethnicity|mono-ethnic]] [[nation-building]] – for instance in the Malaysian government's attempt to create a 'Malaysian race' by 2020.<ref>[[The Economist]]: ''[http://www.economist.com/surveys/displayStory.cfm?story_id=1677228 The changing of the guard]'', 3 April 2003.</ref>

===Support===
[[File:India Square JC jeh.JPG|thumb|[[Non-resident Indian and person of Indian origin|People of Indian origin]] have been able to achieve a high [[demographic profile]] in [[India Square]], [[Jersey City, New Jersey#Demographics|Jersey City]], [[New Jersey]], US, known as ''Little Bombay'',<ref>Kiniry, Laura. "Moon Handbooks New Jersey", Avalon Travel Publishing, 2006. pg. 34 {{ISBN|1-56691-949-5}}</ref> home to the highest concentration of Asian Indians in the [[Western Hemisphere]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.jerseycityindependent.com/2014/04/neighborhood-spotlight-journal-square/|title=Neighborhood Spotlight: Journal Square|author=Laryssa Wirstiuk|newspaper=Jersey City Independent|date=21 April 2014|access-date=26 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180630085618/http://www.jerseycityindependent.com/2014/04/neighborhood-spotlight-journal-square/|archive-date=30 June 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> and one of at least 24 [[ethnic enclave|enclaves]] characterized as a ''Little India'' which have emerged within the New York City Metropolitan Area, with the largest metropolitan Indian population outside Asia, as large-scale immigration from India continues into New York City,<ref name=Immigrants2014est>{{cite web|url=https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/immsuptable2d_5.xls|title=Supplemental Table 2. Persons Obtaining Lawful Permanent Resident Status by Leading Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) of Residence and Region and Country of Birth: Fiscal Year 2014|publisher=U.S. Department of Homeland Security |access-date=1 June 2016}}</ref><ref name=Immigrants2013est>{{cite web |url=https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/immigration-statistics/yearbook/2013/LPR/immsuptable2d.xls |title=Yearbook of Immigration Statistics: 2013 Supplemental Table 2 |publisher=U.S. Department of Homeland Security |access-date=2 July 2017}}</ref> through the support of the surrounding community.]]

Multiculturalism is seen by its supporters as a fairer system that allows people to truly express who they are within a society, that is more tolerant and that adapts better to social issues.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/mar/22/multiculturalism-blame-culture-segregation |title=Guardian.co.uk |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=22 March 2010 |access-date=10 December 2010 |location=London |first=Antony |last=Lerman}}</ref> They argue that culture is not one definable thing based on one race or religion, but rather the result of multiple factors that change as the world changes.

Historically, support for modern multiculturalism stems from the changes in Western societies after World War II, in what Susanne Wessendorf calls the "human rights revolution", in which the horrors of institutionalized racism and [[ethnic cleansing]] became almost impossible to ignore in the wake of the [[Holocaust]]; with the collapse of the [[Colonial empire|European colonial system]], as colonized nations in Africa and [[Western imperialism in Asia|Asia]] successfully [[African independence movements|fought for their independence]] and pointed out the discriminatory underpinnings of the colonial system; and, in the United States in particular, with the rise of the [[Civil Rights Movement]], which criticized ideals of [[Cultural assimilation|assimilation]] that often led to prejudices against those who did not act according to Anglo-American standards and which led to the development of academic [[ethnic studies]] programs as a way to counteract the neglect of contributions by racial minorities in classrooms.<ref>Susanne Wessendorf, ''The multiculturalism backlash: European discourses, policies and practices'', p. 35; accessed through Google Books, 12 February 2011.</ref><ref>Paul C. Gorski, [http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/papers/edchange_history.html "A Brief History of Multicultural Education"], EdChange.org, November 1999; accessed 12 February 2011.</ref> As this history shows, multiculturalism in Western countries was seen to combat racism, to protect minority communities of all types, and to undo policies that had prevented minorities from having full access to the opportunities for freedom and equality promised by the liberalism that has been the hallmark of Western societies since the [[Age of Enlightenment]]. The [[contact hypothesis]] in sociology is a well-documented phenomenon in which cooperative interactions with those from a different group than one's own reduce prejudice and inter-group hostility.

[[Will Kymlicka]] argues for "group differentiated rights", that help both religious and cultural minorities operate within the larger state as a whole, without impinging on the rights of the larger society. He bases this on his opinion that human rights fall short in protecting the rights of minorities, as the state has no stake in protecting the minorities.<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1093/0198290918.003.0006 |chapter=Justice and Minority Rights |title=Multicultural Citizenship |year=1996 |last1=Kymlicka |first1=Will |pages=107–130 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780198290919 }}</ref>

C. James Trotman argues that multiculturalism is valuable because it "uses several disciplines to highlight neglected aspects of our social history, particularly the histories of women and minorities [...and] promotes respect for the dignity of the lives and voices of the forgotten.<ref name="Trotman2002">{{cite book|author=C. James Trotman|title=Multiculturalism: roots and realities|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ht8UKlutUaMC&pg=PR9|access-date=29 January 2012|year=2002|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=978-0-253-34002-3|pages=9–10}}</ref> By closing gaps, by raising consciousness about the past, multiculturalism tries to restore a sense of wholeness in a [[postmodern]] era that fragments human life and thought."<ref name="Trotman2002"/>

[[Tariq Modood]] argues that in the early years of the 21st century, multiculturalism "is most timely and necessary, and [...] we need more not less", since it is "the form of integration" that (1) best fits the ideal of [[egalitarianism]], (2) has "the best chance of succeeding" in the "post-[[9/11]], post [[7/7]]" world, and (3) has remained "moderate [and] pragmatic".<ref name="Modood2007">{{cite book|author=Tariq Modood|title=Multiculturalism: a civic idea|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hlEMZuPhpWQC&pg=PA14|year=2007|publisher=Polity|isbn=978-0-7456-3288-9|page=14}}</ref>

[[Bhikhu Parekh]] counters what he sees as the tendencies to equate multiculturalism with racial minorities "demanding special rights" and to see these as promoting a "thinly veiled racis[m]". Instead, he argues that multiculturalism is in fact "not about minorities" but "is about the proper terms of the relationship between different cultural communities", which means that the standards by which the communities resolve their differences, e.g., "the principles of justice" must not come from only one of the cultures but must come "through an open and equal dialogue between them."<ref>{{cite book|last=Parekh|first=Bhikhu C.|title=Rethinking multiculturalism: cultural diversity and political theory|year=2002|publisher=Harvard UP|isbn=978-0-674-00995-0|page=13}}</ref>

Balibar characterizes criticisms of multiculturalism as "differentialist racism", which he describes as a covert form of racism that does not purport ethnic superiority as much as it asserts stereotypes of perceived "incompatibility of life-styles and traditions".<ref name="Gunew 2004 80">{{cite book|last=Gunew|first=Sneja|title=Haunted Nations: The colonial dimensions of multiculturalisms|date=2004|publisher=Routledge|location=11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE|isbn=978-0-415-28483-7|page=80}}</ref>

While there is research that suggests that ethnic diversity increases chances of war, lower public goods provision and decreases democratization, there is also research that shows that ethnic diversity in itself is not detrimental to peace,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fearon |first1=James D. |last2=Laitin |first2=David D. |title=Ethnicity, Insurgency, and Civil War |journal=American Political Science Review |date=February 2003 |volume=97 |issue=1 |pages=75–90 |doi=10.1017/S0003055403000534 |doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 |citeseerx=10.1.1.453.3913 |s2cid=8303905 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wimmer |first1=Andreas |last2=Cederman |first2=Lars-Erik |last3=Min |first3=Brian |title=Ethnic Politics and Armed Conflict: A Configurational Analysis of a New Global Data Set |journal=American Sociological Review |date=April 2009 |volume=74 |issue=2 |pages=316–337 |doi=10.1177/000312240907400208 |citeseerx=10.1.1.518.4825 |s2cid=9751858 }}</ref> public goods provision<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Baldwin |first1=Kate |last2=Huber |first2=John D. |title=Economic versus Cultural Differences: Forms of Ethnic Diversity and Public Goods Provision |journal=American Political Science Review |date=November 2010 |volume=104 |issue=4 |pages=644–662 |doi=10.1017/S0003055410000419 |s2cid=6811597 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wimmer |first1=Andreas |title=Is Diversity Detrimental? Ethnic Fractionalization, Public Goods Provision, and the Historical Legacies of Stateness |journal=Comparative Political Studies |date=September 2016 |volume=49 |issue=11 |pages=1407–1445 |doi=10.1177/0010414015592645 |s2cid=7998506 }}</ref> or democracy.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gerring |first1=John |last2=Hoffman |first2=Michael |last3=Zarecki |first3=Dominic |title=The Diverse Effects of Diversity on Democracy |journal=British Journal of Political Science |date=April 2018 |volume=48 |issue=2 |pages=283–314 |doi=10.1017/S000712341600003X |s2cid=18860350 }}</ref> Rather, it was found that promoting diversity actually helps in advancing disadvantaged students.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kislev |first1=Elyakim |title=The effect of education policies on higher-education attainment of immigrants in Western Europe: A cross-classified multilevel analysis |journal=Journal of European Social Policy |date=May 2016 |volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=183–199 |doi=10.1177/0958928716637142 |s2cid=156140332 }}</ref> A 2018 study in the ''[[American Political Science Review]]'' cast doubts on findings that ethnoracial homogeneity led to greater public goods provision.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kustov |first1=Alexander |last2=Pardelli |first2=Giuliana |title=Ethnoracial Homogeneity and Public Outcomes: The (Non)effects of Diversity |journal=American Political Science Review |date=November 2018 |volume=112 |issue=4 |pages=1096–1103 |doi=10.1017/S0003055418000308 |s2cid=149495272 }}</ref> A 2015 study in the ''American Journal of Sociology'' challenged past research showing that racial diversity adversely affected trust.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Abascal |first1=Maria |last2=Baldassarri |first2=Delia |title=Love Thy Neighbor? Ethnoracial Diversity and Trust Reexamined |journal=American Journal of Sociology |date=November 2015 |volume=121 |issue=3 |pages=722–782 |doi=10.1086/683144 |pmid=26900618 |s2cid=20479598 }}</ref>

According to migration researcher [[Hein de Haas]], research shows that there is no systematic relationship between levels of [[immigration]] or [[ethnic diversity]] and [[social cohesion]] or [[Trust (social science)|trust]]. Studies show that factors such as [[economic inequality]] and trust in government are much more important for social cohesion than diversity. In countries and regions where income inequality is low and where people trust their government, social cohesion remains strong even with high levels of diversity. Canada and Australia, for example, are countries with high levels of immigration and diversity, but also with stable and well-functioning societies. On the other hand, hate speech toward minority groups by politicians can reduce social cohesion. So diversity as such does not undermine social cohesion, hate speech by politicians does.<ref>{{cite book
 | last = de Haas
 | first = Hein
 | title = How Migration Really Works: A Factful Guide to the Most Divisive Issue in Politics
 | publisher = Random House
 | year = 2023
 | chapter = Myth 4: Our societies are more diverse than ever
}}</ref>

===Criticism{{anchor|Opposition}}===
{{Main|Criticism of multiculturalism}}
Critics of multiculturalism often debate whether the multicultural ideal of benignly co-existing cultures that interrelate and influence one another, and yet remain distinct, is sustainable, paradoxical, or even desirable.<ref name="Nagle2009">{{cite book|last = Nagle|first = John|title=Multiculturalism's double bind: creating inclusivity, cosmopolitanism and difference|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zqMCc37dW1kC&pg=PA129|date=23 September 2009|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-0-7546-7607-2|page=129}}</ref><ref name="Rajaee2000">{{cite book|last = Rajaee |first = Farhang |title=Globalization on trial: the human condition and the information civilization |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZyAt3T1V4EcC&pg=PT97|date=May 2000|publisher=IDRC |isbn= 9780889369092 |page=97}}</ref><ref name="SandercockAttili2009">{{cite book|last1 = Sandercock |first1 =Leonie |last2 = Attili |first2 = Giovanni |last3 = Cavers |first3 = Val |last4 = Carr |first4 = Paula |title=Where strangers become neighbours: integrating immigrants in Vancouver, Canada|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TmlGzr4s0uMC&pg=PA16|date=1 May 2009|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-1-4020-9034-9|page=16}}</ref> It is argued that [[nation states]], who would previously have been synonymous with a distinctive cultural identity of their own, lose out to enforced multiculturalism and that this ultimately erodes the host nations' distinct culture.<ref name="Report attacks multiculturalism">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4295318.stm |title=Report attacks multiculturalism |work = [[BBC News]] |date=30 September 2005 |access-date=10 December 2010 }}</ref>

[[Sarah Song (professor)|Sarah Song]] views cultures as historically shaped entities by its members, and that they lack boundaries due to globalization, thereby making them stronger than others might assume.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Justice, Gender, and the Politics of Multiculturalism|last=Song|first=Sarah|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2007|isbn=978-0-511-49035-4}}</ref> She goes on to argue against the notion of special rights as she feels cultures are mutually constructive, and are shaped by the dominant culture. Brian Barry advocates a difference-blind approach to culture in the political realm and he rejects group-based rights as antithetical to the universalist liberal project, which he views as based on the individual.<ref>[[Brian Barry]], Culture and Equality ([[Polity Press]], 2001), p. 148.</ref>

[[Susan Moller Okin]], a [[feminist]] professor of [[political philosophy]], argued in 1999, in "Is multiculturalism bad for women?", that the principle that all cultures are equal means that the equal rights of women in particular are sometimes severely violated.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bostonreview.net/forum/susan-moller-okin-multiculturalism-bad-women|title=Is Multiculturalism Bad For Women?|date=1 October 1997|website=Boston Review}}</ref>

Harvard professor of political science [[Robert D. Putnam]] conducted a nearly decade-long study on how multiculturalism affects social trust.<ref name="Putnam, Robert D. 2007">{{Cite journal |last= Putnam |first = Robert D. |author-link = Robert D. Putnam |title = ''E Pluribus Unum'': Diversity and community in the twenty-first century |journal = [[Scandinavian Political Studies]] |volume = 30 |issue = 2 |pages = 137–74 |doi = 10.1111/j.1467-9477.2007.00176.x |date = June 2007 |s2cid = 14234366 }}</ref> He surveyed 26,200 people in 40 American communities, finding that when the data were adjusted for class, income and other factors, the more racially diverse a community is, the greater the loss of trust. People in diverse communities "don't trust the local mayor, they don't trust the local paper, they don't trust other people and they don't trust institutions," writes Putnam.<ref>{{cite news |last = Sailer |first = Steve |author-link = Steve Sailer |title = Fragmented future |url = http://www.amconmag.com/article/2007/jan/15/00007/ |work = [[The American Conservative]] |publisher = Jon Basil Utley |date = 15 January 2007 |access-date = 19 November 2009 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110604174328/http://www.amconmag.com/article/2007/jan/15/00007/ |archive-date = 4 June 2011 |url-status = dead }}</ref> In the presence of such ethnic diversity, Putnam maintains that, "[W]e hunker down. We act like turtles. The effect of diversity is worse than had been imagined. And it's not just that we don't trust people who are not like us. In diverse communities, we don't trust people who do not look like us".<ref name="Putnam, Robert D. 2007" /> Putnam has also stated, however, that "this allergy to diversity tends to diminish and to go away... I think in the long run we'll all be better."<ref>Martin, Michel, "[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12802663 Political Scientist: Does Diversity Really Work?]" Tell Me More, NPR. Written 15 August 2007, accessed 15 September 2017.</ref> Putnam denied allegations he was arguing against diversity in society and contended that his paper had been "twisted" to make a case against race-conscious admissions to universities. He asserted that his "extensive research and experience confirm the substantial benefits of diversity, including racial and ethnic diversity, to our society."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.chronicle.com/blogs/percolator/robert-putnam-says-his-research-was-twisted/30357|title=Harvard Sociologist Says His Research Was 'Twisted'|last=Berlett|first=Tom|date=15 August 2012|work=[[The Chronicle of Higher Education]]|access-date=28 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200101091923/https://www.chronicle.com/blogs/percolator/robert-putnam-says-his-research-was-twisted/30357|archive-date=1 January 2020|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[Ethnologist]] Frank Salter writes:

<blockquote>
Relatively homogeneous societies invest more in public goods, indicating a higher level of public altruism. For example, the degree of ethnic homogeneity correlates with the government's share of gross domestic product as well as the average wealth of citizens. Case studies of the United States, Africa and South-East Asia find that multi-ethnic societies are less charitable and less able to cooperate to develop public infrastructure. Moscow beggars receive more gifts from fellow ethnics than from other ethnies {{sic}}. A recent multi-city study of municipal spending on public goods in the United States found that ethnically or racially diverse cities spend a smaller portion of their budgets and less per capita on public services than do the more homogeneous cities.<ref>Salter, Frank, ''On Genetic Interests'', p. 146.</ref>
</blockquote>

[[Dick Lamm]], former three-term Democratic governor of the US state of [[Colorado]], argued that "diverse peoples worldwide are mostly engaged in hating each other—that is, when they are not killing each other. A diverse, peaceful, or stable society is against most historical precedent."<ref>{{cite web |last = Lamm |first = Richard D. |title = I have a plan to destroy America |url = http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/lamm.asp |website = Snopes.com |date = 2005 |access-date = 12 January 2011 }}</ref>

The American classicist [[Victor Davis Hanson]] used the perceived differences in "rationality" between Moctezuma and Cortés to argue that Western culture was superior to every culture in the entire world, which thus led him to reject multiculturalism as a false doctrine that placed all cultures on an equal footing.<ref name="Hanson, Victor Davis 2001. p. 205">Hanson, Victor Davis ''Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise to Western Power'', New York: Random House, 2001. p. 205</ref>

In New Zealand ([[Aotearoa]]), which is officially bi-cultural, multiculturalism has been seen as a threat to the [[Māori people|Māori]] as an attempt by the New Zealand Government to undermine Māori demands for [[self-determination]] and encourage assimilation.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Johnson |first1=Jay T. |title=Indigeneity's Challenges to the White Settler-State: Creating a Thirdspace for Dynamic Citizenship |journal=Alternatives: Global, Local, Political |date=January 2008 |volume=33 |issue=1 |pages=29–52 |doi=10.1177/030437540803300103 |s2cid=145192448 }}</ref>

[[Far-right politics|Far-right sympathisers]] have been shown to increasingly take part in a multitude of online discursive efforts directed against global brands' multicultural advertisements.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Ulver|first1=Sofia|last2=Laurell|first2=Christofer|date=October 2020|title=Political Ideology in Consumer Resistance: Analyzing Far-Right Opposition to Multicultural Marketing|journal=[[Journal of Public Policy & Marketing]]|volume=39|issue=4|pages=477–493|doi=10.1177/0743915620947083|doi-access=free}}</ref>{{rp|p=477}}

[[Racial]] and [[ethnic]] labels can have a significant impact: non-minorities primed to think of themselves as [[White Americans|White]] (versus [[European American]]) were subsequently less in favor of multiculturalism and were more racially prejudiced.<ref name=MorrisonChung2011>{{cite journal|last1=Morrison|first1=Kimberly Rios|last2=Chung|first2=Adrienne H.|date=January 2011|title="White" or "European American"? Self-identifying labels influence majority group members' interethnic attitudes|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022103110001721|journal=[[Journal of Experimental Social Psychology]]|volume=47|issue=1|pages=165–170|doi=10.1016/j.jesp.2010.07.019|access-date=29 December 2024|url-access=subscription}}</ref> This was due to decreases in [[Identity (social science)|identification]] with [[ethnic minorities]].<ref name=MorrisonChung2011/>