Multiculturalism: A Very Short Introduction

Description

Has multiculturalism failed? Is it time to move on? What is the alternative? Ali Rattansi explores the issues, from national identity and social cohesion to cultural fragmentation and 'political correctness'. Providing a balanced assessment of the truth and falsity of the charges against multiculturalism, he explores new ideas for the future.

• Attempts to define the word 'multiculturalism' and looks at how the term is used in political debate, public policy, and within the educational arena
• Examines the contemporary public debates and addresses issues of multicultural policy and its relation to social cohesion
• Presents a balanced and comprehensive view of all the opinions surrounding this controversial subject
• Considers alternatives to multiculturalism for the future
• Part of the bestselling Very Short Introductions series - over three million copies sold worldwide

About the Author(s)

Ali Rattansi, Visiting Professor of Sociology, City University, London

Ali Rattansi was educated at the Universities of Manchester and Cambridge. His publications include Racism: A Very Short Introduction (OUP, 2007), Race, Culture, and Difference (Sage 1992), and Racism, Modernity, and Identity (Polity Press, 1994).

Table of Contents

Introduction
1:What is multiculturalism?
2:Is multiculturalism bad for women?
3:Is multiculturalism responsible for social disintegration, ghettos and 'parallel lives'?
4:Ethnic minority integration, class inequality and 'community cohesion'
5:National identity, belonging and 'the Muslim question'
6:Moving on: multiculturalism, interculturalism and transnationalism in a new global era
References
Further Reading

Reviews

Anyone seeking an authoritative analysis of multiculturalism need look no further than this book. Comparative in nature, sophisticated yet accessible, it demolishes the myths that opponents have created around multicultural policies. The author also provides an incisive contribution to where the debate about such poicies should move in the future. - Professor Lord Anthony Giddens

Ali Rattansi has written a highly accessible and academically sound analysis of research outcomes and actual policy measures in Britain and several other West European immigration countries, in particular France and the Netherlands. He argues convincingly that implementing core Western values cannot but lead to a form of multiculturalism, even though most politicians no longer like to give it that name. I highly recommend reading this book. - Han Entzinger, Erasmus University Rotterdam