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February 24, 2011
Multiculturalism is back in the news. Once again it is under attack in spite of Australia being a country of immigration, and consequently a multicultural society. A public debate is forming.
What is being attacked is the idea of multiculturalism as a nation of many nations. The resulting metaphor was a mosaic, with the various migrant cultures representing small pieces that combined to form a larger whole. Thus we use the the word "hyphenates" to describe Australians who were Italian-Australian, Jewish-Australian, or Anglo-Australian--to express the idea of the idea of mosaics, mixed salads, and all those other terms.This has been used to develop multicultural policies involving the attribution of special rights to groups defined by their cultural, linguistic, religious, or ethnic identity, with a view to preserving the latter against the assimilationist impulses of majority groups.
It may be a good idea to reject this melting pot model of multiculturalism, as it implies enclaves and tolerance of a culture of introversion and violence (towards women, children, homosexuals, bisexuals, and transsexuals). It implies that citizens are no longer expected to mingle and mix and work together: rather, they should set up their own little private communities catering for their own, cultivating parochial identities and priorities – be they white middle class, or Muslim, or evangelical, or whatever.
What to replace it with? What is a better conception of multiculturalism in a globalised world?
We need one that recognizes we become Australian not through cultural assimilation or declarations of patriotic loyalty but, rather, through participation with others in the labour market, local schools, neighbourhood life, civil society associations, and local and national politics. When things go well, one becomes Australian through mixing and mingling and working and arguing with other Australians of diverse cultures.
When things don't then we have the conservative line of attack that holds multiculturalism a failure because Muslim immigrants are not integrating withe the host society.
A different conception is that Australian citizens must accept the basic principles of Australian society. These include the Constitution and the rule of law, parliamentary democracy, freedom of speech and religion, English as a national language, equality of the sexes and tolerance. The basic principles is given a liberal twist---equal rights, the rule of law, freedom of speech and representative democracy. So we have liberal multiculturalism.
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Not what I expected. "Multiculturalism" is a relatively recent experiment. Maybe I am just getting old, but I do not feel as though the values of a small proportion of recent immigrants is consistent with Australian values and law. And those that often defend multiculturalism slavishly are the same who would first be put to the sword by those they defend...
Those who bring values to Australia of hating homosexuals, not treating women as true equals, and believing their beliefs supersede Australian Law etc. should reconsider their choice of address.
The myth of Australia being a rotten place, full of evil is being shown for what it really is by the current events in Libya et al by comparison. It is not perfect, but our values, law, and system of government have led to good outcomes for the society that supports them.