Individualism in Cultural Orientation: Multicultural Integration - Essay Example

Culture describes an individual’s beliefs and behaviour as characteristic features that are similar to members of a group or society, with cultural practices ranging from language, religion, social habits, and music to cuisine. Similarly, cultural orientation is an inclination to think, feel and act according to one’s cultural beliefs that play a critical role in influencing lifestyle.1 Anthropology and communication experts have found distinct patterns that determine the lifestyle that is upheld. Cultural orientation frameworks are useful in assessment of cultures where salient traits of a culture are described and new cultural choices discovered. Similarly, cultural differences can be highlighted, and the gap bridged to foster harmony and cohesion. Cultural orientation indicators are divided into three broad dimensions including interaction style, thinking style and sense of self. These aspects define the essence of cultural orientation. There is the need to value individualism in cultural orientation as an essential aspect related to culture. It is at the individual level of thinking that most decisions that affect the society are made. Thus, having a distinct and clear resolution at an individual level that influence others into following a well laid example. For this reason, individualism should be first then collectivism, and finally universalism. The environment is a key feature in any culture with most being bound to it and holds various beliefs to that effect. In most cultures, the environment holds a sacred niche to it and thus it should be treated as part of the society. To achieve this, the environment must be in harmony with the culture and constant constraints observed to avoid upsetting the achieved balance. In this regard, multiculturalism illustrates the amalgamation of different culture where different societies merge to generate a unique culture, which is considered ideal by all; in other words, multiculturalism refers to the acknowledgement and promotion of cultural pluralism as the key aspect of most societies.2 Multiculturalism is characterised by the celebration of ethnic and cultural diversity through which all citizens are encouraged to embrace each other regardless of their background. In a multicultural society, there is a wide variety of customs, traditions, music, and cuisine among other aspects of a multi-ethnic society. The system that is multiculturalism has its roots before the civilisation of man where measures were adopted during hardships to adapt into the evolving habitat in order to survive it.3 This is evidenced by the interactions of the early ways of life to give rise to new cultures and new civilisations. For instance, people living in the mountain taught those living in the forests the art of survival in their region, and vice versa. As such, the ideology of survival and adaptation is credited to have contributed to the emergence of cultural interactions, which can be used to illustrate civilisation. Civilisation is described as the social process through, which a society achieves an advanced stage of development and organisation and it is used to illustrate the state of the society at a particular time and place. Civilisation involves community development to acquire a new level of sophistication with distinct features and defining characteristics to mark the transition. Civilisations share cultural traditions that define their beliefs, habits, values, and behaviour. Members participate in their cultural practices as a way to show support in their beliefs and the way of life. Religious activities in early civilisation were more organised and profound, with immense respect and sacrifices offered to the gods. These aspects are similar to those that define modern multiculturalism systems. Multiculturalism is aided by the movement of people from one country to another, where individuals aspire for a better life in their new habitat. In line with this, it is a normal occurrence that people of different nationalities, colour of the skin and religious beliefs live together in cohesion to form a multicultural society. Such is the case in the modern world where big cities such as London, Paris, and Berlin play host to different cultures. Cultural diversity is wide spread across the world and is considered a valuable asset especially in Europe. This has been a key aspect in the creation European identity, which promotes pluralism.4 Multicultural societies have their advantages such as cultural exchanges and the benefits that accrue thereafter. Cultural diversity is geared towards promoting mutual understanding and respect for diversity as well as curbing intolerance and discrimination along the lines of cultural practices. This hopes to promote and maintain peace and stability both at the regional and national level. Historically, multiculturalism is illustrated to allow people to express themselves through cultural practices in the society, which enables cohesion and cultural exchange. In this sense, administration organs strive to encourage members of the society to establish relations with others who differ in their traditions. However, various countries in Europe have different interpretation of the concept of multiculturalism. For instance, multiculturalism in the United Kingdom, Germany and Netherlands is geared towards facilitating the coexistence of different cultures and their success under the national framework. Meanwhile, the French do not promote a similar ideology but seek the assimilation of individuals from different cultural backgrounds. To this effect, multiculturalism is seen to shift from a liberal stand towards the extreme as a new culture is imposed, which has proven to create social problems in the European countries. Multiculturalism as a solution As initially intended, multiculturalism fostered peace and cohesion among people of varying cultural traditions and practices. The harmonious coexistence in the society is credited for the realisation enormous success in the history of the world. Such success cannot be credited to a single culture but to a multicultural society due to its contribution on the same. Multiculturalism is demonstrated as a solution through industrial revolution, globalisation, cultural integration and tolerance. The industrial revolution saw numerous changes sweep across Europe and cause a myriad of solutions as well as problems in the wake of the said revolution. Due to these changes that occurred, it is crucial to analyse how the industrial revolution affected the social structure in Europe, and in the world at large. As a result, of the industrial revolution, there were higher standards of living in Europe and the world at large as changes took place in the generation of manufacturing techniques. As such, the techniques that were developed and implemented in manufacturing materials saw increased generation of wealth by the people. This is because the people could make more goods within a short time as compared to the former cottage industries they used, prior to the industrial revolution. This meant having more money to spend on items that they wanted; thus increased demand for more goods. This drove the prices of goods high leading to high standards of living as the people could afford what they required. This is concerning housing, clothing, and even nutrition, where around the globe quality of life became enhanced. The other way in which industrial revolution brought about change in the social structure in Europe is through migration that took place as a result of the revolution. The revolution saw increased demand for workers across Europe and the world, where industries were established. These included farmers who left the rural areas and moved to the cities, in search for jobs in factories, leaving with their families. As a result, there was a rise in rural-urban migration breaking the traditional view of family structures in the countryside as many people moved to the cities. In addition, as the industrial revolution advanced in Europe and globally, it saw the cities grow and expand on an extensive level. However, this meant that the cities could not handle the pressure that was mounted on its facilities especially the sanitation and the housing. As a result, the people lived in crowded areas that lacked proper sanitation leading to the rapid spread of communicable diseases across the populations. The poverty experienced also led to the rise of slums emanating from high levels of poverty, as they could not afford housing.5 Other than the living conditions and poverty, children and women were also used as a source of labour in Europe, where they worked for close to nineteen hours a day around dangerous equipment and even in mines. The conditions for work were horrible for them, accidents often occurred, and child labour was considered standard for use in factories and mines. They were also poorly remunerated with orphans undergoing slave like conditions and receiving no pay most of the time. The industrial revolution saw changes that affected the society by inducing poverty and raising the standards of living, as well as poor sanitation, child labour and migration. It was due to the industrial revolution that the society and its structure changed for both the better and the worse as compared to the period before it. The process of international integration with regard to exchange of views, products and cultural aspects is illustrative of globalization where national and regional economies, societies and cultures are unified. This plays a crucial role in ensuring harmony among nations as well as enhancing trade networks, communication, immigration and transportation. Globalization primarily focuses on trade, foreign investments and international capital flows, which encourages economic development at a global scale. Globalization is usually associated with economic activities, but with it comes benefits in terms of cultural interactions, and advances in technology. Global integration is facilitated by the existence of a global infrastructure that fosters easy communication and transportation of labour and products. This plays a critical role in creating a borderless society, which reduces the world into a village. In addition, connectivity reduces the time spent in the production of goods and services, which ensures efficiency among manufacturing industries. Under globalization, international bodies such as the European Union provide guidelines to govern economic activities among member states. Globalization is associated with increased economic growth where nations are open to new opportunities for trade and investments. Integration fosters the removal of barriers such as trade restrictions, quotas and tariffs, which attracts economic stimulation through economic drives. The European society is characterised by the diversity in cultural background with a mixture of Latin, Slavic, Hellenic, Thracian among others, who are influenced the importation of Hebraic, Islamic, Christian and similar belief systems. It is thus critical to establish ground for a unified culture and a harmonious existence in the society. The rich cultural diversity has been credited for the standardisation of social facilities such as learning institutions and health facilities. Moreover, cultural diversity is known to establish new innovative means of performing tasks, which eventually led to industrial revolution. This can only be achieved through accepting the presence of different cultures and understanding the roles played by each; as such, studies have indicated the absence of multiculturalism is likely to trigger intolerance and xenophobia in the society.6 Cosmopolitan cities would not survive the chaos resulting from lack of cohesion among citizens who seek to instil their superiority over others. Challenges in Multiculturalism Despite of the highlighted need for multicultural integration in European countries, the optimal level of cohesion is yet to be achieved. As a result, the concept of embracing multiculturalism has become a pain among administrators in various countries. There exist significant disparities among the natives and the minority members of the society, in that the natives are regarded as superior. In this regard, those migrating from other nations are faced with challenges ranging from financial constrains to service delivery due to discrimination may be evident. Similarly, the minority groups are seen to be marginalised and their queries not addressed amicably, leading increases disparities. Inequality is demonstrated by the high rates of unemployment, residential segregation, and political marginalisation among the minority in the society.7 Moreover, there are individuals opposed to cultural integration in the society as they seek to preserve their native culture and maintain it as the superior one. This is especially so when they perceive cultural integration as devaluation and degradation of the native culture as opposed to its enrichment. Multiculturalism is seen to erode the European pride in their culture and adopting new cultural ideals whose negative effects are reflected by unrelenting financial crisis, mediocrity and moral decadence.8 To this effect, they engage activities that challenge the rights of the minority groups, in this case, the new cultures, which have seen proliferation of discrimination and modern racism. Similarly, immigrants strive to maintain their identity and resist efforts to adopt new cultural aspects. As such, the immigrants establish segregated communities where they observe their culture and practice their traditions as seen with Muslim groups. The segregated communities establish and fully implement their cultural values, which are taught to those who share similar beliefs and values. The communities that indulge in such claim preservation of their cultural values from moral erosion. In relation to this, the communities have established learning facilities, which incorporate their culture as well as the mainstream syllabus. This is facilitated by the government’s failure to accommodate cultural values especially religious diversity in the national curriculum. In contrast, faith-based learning institutions are known to perform better than conventional schools.9 Most European countries adopt a hands-off policy in which the communities are encouraged to lead separate lives according to their culture.10 This, however, allows the development and establishment of autonomy, an aspect that leads to extremism due to prevailing disparities. For instance, riots broke out in Germany during a Kurdish festival when police officers intervene to resolve a situation concerning a banned Kurdish terrorist group.11 The riot was not an isolated incident and it can be attributed to the autonomy of such groups to the extent of causing mayhem and discord. This creates a clear path for confrontation between the members of the said culture and the state organs who are charged with the role uphold the law. Similarly, the stereotyping of immigrant communities as violent has led to pulling away of the said communities, and thus are treated with increased suspicion. For instance, it is a common assumption that the inability of Islam to embrace democracy holds devastating consequences.12 Such confrontations pose a challenge to the intentions of multiculturalism, which is interpreted as discrimination and it eventually sparks off diplomatic rows. European governments also have their share of posing as a hindrance to the success of multiculturalism as observed in their immigration policies. Most of the countries introduced a battery of tests, which are subjected to applicants seeking citizenship. Such tests play a critical role in denying individuals entry into the country based on their proficiency. The tests are seen to be the government’s subtle way of maintaining political correctness when regulating immigration to ensure preservation of their own traditions and culture. This is evidenced in the cases where government representatives openly declare multiculturalism as a failure.13 For instance, the German chancellor and the UK prime minister have echoed similar sentiments, which throw the entire purpose of cultural integration in jeopardy.14 Such sentiments have sparked strong debate about the future of immigrants in Europe and the commitment of the government in protection of minority rights. Management of Ethnic Conflict In order to deal with ethnicity in multicultural Europe, there is need to look at issues of decentralization, which have been known to work in other areas, especially in eliminating ethnic differences in a multicultural society. Decentralization is one way to deal with the issue in that it puts away the roles of different players in the government and in the nation at large in order to get everyone involved in governance and other issues that affect the multicultural society. Devolution of power in a multicultural Europe is significant since it offers institutions an opportunity to preserve diversity in a unitary state of country. As such, the role of devolution or decentralization ensures participation of every culture in social issues and governance for the purpose of inclusion. As a result, all manner of ethnicity in the multicultural is eliminated since none of the people in the nation suffers discrimination or favouritism, as if often the case in most cases of multicultural ethnicity. In addition, devolution sees participation in decision making by citizens, a crucial step towards eliminating ethnicity in Europe; thus, the best means of decentralization or devolution in Europe would be moving all administrative manners to the hands of municipalities. The municipalities tend to have greater access to and control over people; thus allowing decision making to spill down to local authorities sees everyone included and their interests taken put into perspective. In addition, decentralization counters ethnic conflict in a multicultural society by having then ability to satisfy the demands spatially concentrated non-majority groups by offering hem autonomy to make their own decisions while, at the same time, allowing the rest of the nation and cultural diversity to experience full sovereignty.15 Without this devolution, a majority of these ethnically marginalized groups would remain in conflict with the dominant ones over unmet demands and needs. Culturally, the autonomy issued to certain ethnic groups in an attempt to promote multiculturalism allows the groups to control their destinies and instils a great sense of security in their culture, as well as a sense of appreciation for their ethnic background. Decentralization also handles ethnic conflict in relation to multiculturalism by promoting social cohesion through the creation of a suitable balance between majority and minority communities at the state level. This can be seen through the allocation of resources, where devolution sees state resources diverted to where they are needed most and building of trust between the different ethnic groups.16 The other way through which ethnic conflict can be managed is through application of the principle of integration he long-term normative vision of the state by ensuring stability in the society and the nation altogether. In this case, integration looks at t.17 As a result, integration is applied to ensure that all manner of being a partisan is eliminated as ethnic conflict in a multicultural has its roots in vested interests by partisans. These partisans focus on the division s among different ethnic groups to maintain their hegemony, which is where the issue of stake exists. As a result, applying an integrationist approach ensures that the different ethnic groups have a common identity that goes beyond ethnicity and conflicts. Following the application of this, then ethnic conflicts will be managed and eliminated thanks to uniformity and ethnic blindness to partisan views and selfish ambition. A short-term solution to ethnic conflict is the application of accommodation principles is significant as it quells down the conflict in a multicultural society.18 This works by ensuring that every ethnic group has its own necessary space in an attempt to ensure that the ethnic groups have an opportunity to express its own identity.19 This necessary space also creates a sense of confidence in the different ethnic groups in that they can make their own decisions as was then case in devolution, and that each ethnic group gets an opportunity to protect itself from majorities. As a result, public policy is crucial to ensure that accommodation takes place in catering for the needs of minority ethnicities in the society, as can be done with institutional expression. Accommodation, consequently aims at helping different ethnicities to create cooperation and work together for a better society as compared to one that is conflict. The accommodation approach cannot work alone, which makes it relevant to ensure that all three prior mentioned approaches are put together in a perfect blend to see an end to ethnic conflict. Applying these three in Europe should see all ethnic groups catered for in their needs and rights, as well as have their voices heard. In conclusion, there is the need to value individualism in cultural orientation as an essential aspect related to culture. It is critical that the value of culture is not understated since it defines the society charged with the role of decision-making. It is at the individual level of thinking that most decisions that affect the society are made. Thus, having a distinct and clear resolution at an individual level that influence others into following a well laid example. Multiculturalism has been proven to an aspect filled with controversies when no adequately implemented. However, success has been achieved in Canada and Australia where immigrants are amicably settled in among the rest of the society. A significant number of immigrants seek citizenship in these countries owing to the high level of multicultural integration.20 Europe and the world as a whole should strive to establish an effective multicultural system in order to embrace cultural diversity to counter intolerance and discrimination.21 This would lead to positive ethnicity from which society can learn from each other and assist through their weaknesses. It is also crucial that communities embrace each other and exercise tolerance in times of weakness. The role of the government in promoting multicultural interactions cannot be overemphasised as it critical in fostering cohesion and harmony among its citizens. The government should also seek to resolve disparities and injustices accorded the minority groups by advocating for equality through effective policies. This would help in curbing riots and uprisings in search of equal rights and cultural reforms. References Lyon, A. 2012. Between the Integration and Accommodation of Ethnic Difference: Decentralization in the Republic of Macedonia. Journal on Ethnopolitics and Minority Issues in Europe Vol. 11, No. 3, 2012, 80-103 McGarry, J. and O’Leary, B. The Political Regulation of National and Ethnic Conflict. Parliamentary Affairs: A Journal of Comparative Politics. Vol. 47, No. 1 1944. Ifeyinwa, M. Socio-Cultural factors and Ethnic Group Relationships in Contemporary Nigerian Society. The African Anthropologist. Vol. 9: No. 2. 2002. Rosinski, P. COF Assessment questionnaire. 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