The Concepts of Immigration and Multiculturalism - Research Paper Example

Immigration and Multiculturalism College: Immigration and Multiculturalism The 21st century marked a period of global interaction with the highest level of immigration registered. In an era of rapid globalization, people have traversed the international boundaries while moving from one country to the other. While some members of the public move to look for better pastures, some move travel abroad in search for better learning. Resultant, there has been an increase in the diversity of people within any given country and hence the birth of the concept of multiculturalism. The concept of multiculturalism emanates from the existence of different people in terms of race, culture, traditions, color, and origin within a given country. Literature identifies the conflict that arises when different people with different beliefs and habits come together. The dignity of some groups of people may fall at stake as a result of unhealthy interaction. However, in an era of diversity, countries are fighting intercultural conflicts to ensure that all persons within a country live comfortably and that they can the role of active citizens within that country. Academic knowledge has played an important role in creating harmony within the social realms and impacting positive attitude in the public domain. However, there is evidence that the war to creative a culturally sensitive learning environment is a journey that has yet to be completed. A wide range of literature has focused on the concept of multiculturalism and immigration in the recent past. Owen (2005) is among the scholars who noted the rapid increase in the immigration rates in the United States of America. In the 21st century, the number of immigrants in America has increase leading to a diverse population characteristic within the country. He alludes to the “melting pot” metaphor that refers to the way cultures disintegrate to create a harmonious multicultural society. The implication is that when immigrant move into the US, their culture melt away and social integration is achieved. While America is referred to as the most culturally sensitive country, the argument of author may be flawed to some extent. The idea that all aspects of culture melt away when immigrants enter into America is ignorant on the complexity of changing cultural beliefs. For instance, in the education sector, it is clear that cultural differences impact the social cohesion among the learners. The issues of discrimination are still persistent within the learning environment and there always special needs to integrate students from different cultures in the learning environment. However, the idea that culturally-sensitive education contributes to social cohesion in a multicultural environment is truthful and may explain the commitment of the government to promote harmony among people from different backgrounds. Kymlicka (2012) is another scholar who has delved into the topic of multiculturalism to identify it success, failure, and future implications. In his research, he identifies that immigration across the world has come with the challenges of a multicultural society. He argues that advocates of multiculturalism have promoted social cohesion by encouraging the formation of a society that celebrates diversities and one that accommodates the different attitudes and beliefs of people within a diverse society. However, he notes that multiculturalism has ignored the ideas of personal dignity that arise from different economic and political status of the people with a multicultural society. Evidently, the minority groups within a country are unequally treated and there is little commitment to create equality among the natives and immigrants. Disparities in the education, health, and political sector underpin the discrimination against immigrants in different countries. The arguments of the author concur with other scholars that have identified critical disparities within in countries such as America that enjoy a good reputation as culturally-sensitive countries. Therefore, he argues that the future of multiculturalism depends on the ability of countries across the world to create equality, promote cohesion, and support weak immigrants to ensure that the dignity and the rights of every person are protected. On the other hand, Bastian (2012) is one of the various authors that have focused on changes that need to be instituted to create cultural responsiveness in the modern world. Evidently, every country is opening up its boarder for diverse groups of people each day as global trends become an inevitable change. Unlike other authors that identify policies as the major instrument for creating diversity conscious societies, Bastian argues that social changes require change of mind by the people. The individual’s response to change has been one of the barriers to change in the world. While the government in many countries have derived policies to integrate immigrants within their countries, it is clear that the public are still stuck in the cultural lines that have undermined identity formation. A culturally responsive society is one that allows immigrants to establish an identity within the country and to become active citizens of the country that comfortably participate within the social, economic, and political realms. The argument of the author is convincing if the cultural discrimination that is still evident is something to go by. Majority of the public have yet to change their mind regarding minority groups. For instance, stereotypical references in the US are far from over within the learning environment as cultural attitudes punctuate every activity within the individual rights. Therefore, to create healthy multicultural environment, there is need to induce mind change and to fight the attitudes that have become a source of conflict between the natives and the immigrants. The impact of academic knowledge within a multicultural environment is a topic that has garnered a lot of attention. Academic knowledge is perceived as the mind-opener that changes the mind-set of individuals, paving way to erasure of retrogressive attitudes (Sleeter & Stillman, 2005). In many countries, the learning environments have become the champion for social integration within the society. The learning environment considers diversity management an important perspective for restoring dignity within the society. Ethical practice within learning institutions require that instructors use methods that are sensitive to cultural, racial and color diversities that may impact learning. Diversity management is concerned with the award of dignity for every individual by ensuring that each person has an equal opportunity. A good example is the diversity management strategies that are commonly applied in modern schools. Many schools are enhancing social integration by creating study groups that encompass all different cultures to foster change in attitude (Moro & Network, 2005). As people work closely together, they learn that they are all equal-beings with the same emotional needs. Therefore, learning institutions inspire social cohesion among learners as a preparation for creating a harmonies multicultural environment. Academic knowledge has a positive impact on the social elements that influence cohesion within the society. Schools provide learners with knowledge that helps in changing the mind sets of the learners. Evidently, social attitudes are propagated from one generation to the next and this underpins the persistence in lack of cultural tolerance within the society (Sleeter & Stillman, 2005). For instance, the term “negro” that is commonly used to refer to black Americans is historical and has been passed over generations. Therefore, academic knowledge seeks to fight such rhetorical cultural attitudes that have become obstacle to cultural integration. Education helps to fight such inherited habits by sensitizing the learners on the negative implications of such stereotypical references (Moro & Network, 2005). It seeks to restore the dignity of every person by creating the right environment within the learning environment. Additionally, academic knowledge allows the public to understand the factors that shape cultural orientation within the society and hence the means to appreciate to appreciate diversity within the society. The local community learns to be accommodative of the immigrants when the global society learns to appreciate cultural differences. The cumulative impact of academic knowledge is that it changes the mind-sets, social attitudes, and social behavior within an integrative society. In addition, in the information age, education has become a tool for global integration within the society. One critical factor of globalization is the proliferation of the internet technology in the world. The 21st century marked a period rapid acceleration of technology that made the access of knowledge easier within the society. Consequently, every person has a privilege to conduct research on any culture that they intend to understand and hence clear up their social attitudes (Sleeter & Stillman, 2005). Unlike in the past when social attitudes were founded on the rumors that persisted within the public, today the internet provide an opportunity for the people to search for the truth about different cultures (Moro & Network, 2005). Internet based research has been an important approach to collection of information that can influence social changes. The internet provides the history of different people, their genealogy, and the way that they have related with other cultures in the past. The history of the people is crucial in understanding their cultural believes. For instance, the history of the hostile relationship between the US natives and Islamic countries influences the way such people interact. Essentially, acquiring such knowledge is crucial in supporting personal critical thinking, hence influencing their attitudes towards other communities. Active citizenship refers to the philosophy that states use to ensure that every person within the country, irrespective of their origin, takes responsibility of the nation. The rationale for citizenship behavior is that states-men owe a duty of responsibility to the society, even if this may not be documented in the law of a country (Hoskins & Mascherini, 2009). Often, active citizen ship juxtaposes the concepts of personal rights and responsibilities within the society and how they come about within a multicultural environment. Active citizenship behavior starts with the provision of absolute rights for people living within a country. For instance, a country needs to assimilate the immigrants by providing them with the right to fair education, equal opportunity of employment as well as access to social services. On the other hand, active citizens must bear the responsibilities of contributing to national development as part of their intention to give back to a society that protects them (Kearns, 2009). Often, when immigrants enter into a new environment, there is a big challenge for them to participate within the country and to become active citizens. For instance, within a learning environment, the immigrant student may have fear to become active partisans within the class environment (Hoskins & Mascherini, 2009). Therefore, the principles of active citizenship empower the people to have a fair chance of participating in national development. Various countries have launched active citizenship programs within the learning environment as one way of engaging foreigners within the country’s businesses. In Britain, the government detected that there has been low voter turnout among the immigrants indicating low active citizenship behavior. In response, the government launched a citizen education program for all UK schools for learners under the age of 14 years. The main aim of such programs is to educate the public on need for their active engagement in social and political realms as citizens of the state. Education is one of the best approaches to support active citizenship within a country. Through knowledge-creation, the instructors can enhance understanding, social cohesion and promote the war against discriminative laws. For instance, in countries such as Canada, the oppression of minority groups within the employment sector has been rampant. Research shows the end to such discrimination will only end if such minority groups have enough knowledge to participate in the push for democracy to ensure that they can advocate for laws that prevent discrimination (Hoskins & Mascherini, 2009). Therefore, creating knowledge of active citizenship allows the immigrant to achieve their rights through active participation in the construction of democracy. Evidently, active citizenship has both short and long-term impacts within a multicultural environment. In the short term, five to ten years, active citizen is likely to contribute to change in social attitudes, which is critical in eliminating anti-social conduct. Active citizenship seeks to encourage the natives and immigrants to work together in the building of the nation to enhance their social cohesion. As the diverse population learns to work together, they develop a mutual understanding, essential in constructing social stability (Kearns, 2009). For instance, when the diverse society is engaged in the fight for democracy for issues such as terrorism that affects countries such as US, they develop a friendship as they feel that they are people with common goals. Such teams are likely to work more harmoniously together while focusing on their common achievements. The state works in a much similar pattern as a work environment with a diverse population. Just like organizations strive to create a cohesive work group that pursues common organizational targets, active citizenship behavior intends to unite people from different cultures. Therefore, in the short-term, active citizenship programs will achieve unity within the multicultural state environments. The value of active citizenship behavior has garnered demand in the dynamic world. The international migration and mobility have become inevitable during this century and countries remain with the challenge of taking advantage of the rich culture mix in developing their nations. In countries such as Asia, immigrants, refugees, and visitors from across the world have resulted to highest level of diversity. In the year 2007, almost a quarter of learners in Australia were non-natives who had recently entered in the country (Kearns, 2009). This diversity trends invites the government to be more aggressive in assimilating the new citizens within the social and political framework to ensure that they form part of citizens who contribute to development (Blee, 2010). Notably, it is becoming impossible for countries to engage actively in business without have a diverse workforce that can handle the different needs of the business market. In the learning environment, the government is facilitating the value of intercultural literacy, proficiency of English skills and expert use of other languages other than English. Through active citizenship, the government intends to promote economic development by encourage global economic participation, which has gained value at a time of market competition. Therefore, active participation of the state person from the multicultural states paves way for economic, social, and political development. In the video on “racism in Australia” we identify the impact of racism within a state and its relation with academic knowledge and multiculturalism. The video identifies a number of issues within the Australian society. First, there is evidence that at least 20% of the Australian population has suffered racism in one way or the other (Altogethernow, 2014). Majority of the citizens within the country are aware of racism and majority are critical about it. Majority having suffered from stereotypes and victimization within the country, they feel that racism is an enemy of social cohesion within the society. Additionally, majority of the population have a positive attitude towards multiculturalism and feel that social cohesion is essential in restoring order within the society (Darder & Torres, 2004). As the speakers within the video point out, social cohesion irons out racism within the society and paves way for an integrative approach to economic development within a country. The argument of the speakers is much similar to the idea that advocates of active citizenship behavior indicate. For instance, they agree that fostering interaction among people of different culture will form a good platform for economic development within the country. Racism is one of the issues that arise within a multicultural environment. Since the world has for long been divided across the lines of race, it is clear that there are attitudes that influence the relationship between people from different races. For instance, the whites in US have learnt to associate the Latinos and Black Americans with failure within the learning environment. Therefore, some races take up inferior positions while some take the inferior positions, hence causing a social conflict when such groups co-exist. The government in many countries has declared racism illegal within their boundaries (Banks, 2000; 2011). For instance, in the US, racism is punishable by the law especially when it comes to work place or within the learning environment. Racism is provocation of human rights that require that every person be treated as an equal being with the same rights. In the learning environment, racism is major cause of peer violence and such institutions forbid issues of discrimination and intimidation. Therefore, racism is a manifestation of the obstacles to social integration within an era of mobility. The impact of academic knowledge is crucial in prevention of racism within a multicultural environment. One the value of cultural knowledge is to create social awareness and create tolerance within the public domain (Blee, 2010). The role of education is to assert the public on their rights and empower them to speak against racial discrimination. For instance, it makes the minority groups speak up against the majority who use stereotypes as a propagation tool for racism. When the public is assertive, it contributes to alignment of social emotions, which in turn reduces the height of racial tensions. Knowledgeable individuals have the courage to champion for their rights within a diverse society and hence paves for racial assimilation. Evidently, majority of immigrants suffer from racial discrimination because they lack the knowledge essential to champion for their rights within a democratic society (Altogethernow, 2014). As pointed out in the video, creation of academic knowledge will go an extra mile in reducing racism within the global community. In conclusion, immigration and multiculturalism are two inseparable concepts in the current century. The global trends have paved way public mobility leading to the formation of multicultural global society. The increase in inter-country movement has come up with many challenges as social systems lose balance due to racial, religious, and cultural diversity. As diverse literature illustrates, cultural integration comes about with disparities that can be addressed through policy as well as social influence. While policies seek to curb social misconduct, social changes focus on changing the people’s mindset to ensure that people are open to accommodate diverse cultures. Learning institutions are striving to change-mindsets of the people by creating academic knowledge that influence understanding of current cultural dynamics. Knowledge helps individuals to be accommodative and understanding of the social issues that influence interactions within a diverse environment. The government is committed to develop active citizenship behavior by attracting immigrants to actively participate in the economic, social, and political spheres of the host country. Academic knowledge will serve to control illegal behavior such as racism and invite the public embrace changes in social structures. References Altogethernow, (2014). Racism is Australia. Retrieved from :< http://alltogether now.org.au/racism/ > Banks, J. A. (2000). Multicultural education: Development, dimensions, and challenges. Phi Delta Kappan, 22-28. Banks, J. A. (2011). The canon debate, knowledge construction, and multicultural education. Educational researcher, 22(5), 4-14. Bastian, B., (2012). Immigration, Multicuralims and Changing Face of Australia. Retrieved from :< http://www2.psy.uq.edu.au/~uqbbast1/Bastian%20Ch4%20Peace%20 Psychology%20Australia.pdf > Blee, K. M. (2010). Trajectories of ideologies and action in US organized racism. Identity and Participation in Culturally Diverse Societies, 239-255. Darder, A., & Torres, R. D. (2004). After race: Racism after multiculturalism. NYU Press. Hoskins, B. L., & Mascherini, M. (2009). Measuring active citizenship through the development of a composite indicator. Social Indicators Research, 90(3), 459-488. Kearns, A. (2009). Active citizenship and local governance: political and geographical dimensions. Political Geography, 14(2), 155-175. Kymlicka, W., (2012). Multiculturalism; Success, Failure and the Future. Retrieved from: Moro, G., & Network, A. C. (2005). Citizens’ evaluation of public participation. Evaluating public participation in policy making, 109-126. Owen, D., (2005). American Identity Citizenship and Multiculturalism. Retrieved from :< http://www.civiced.org/pdfs/germanPaper0905/DianaOwen2005.pdf> Sleeter, C., & Stillman, J. (2005). Standardizing knowledge in a multicultural society. Curriculum Inquiry, 35(1), 27-46. Read More