Abandoning the Politics of Equality in Favour of Cultural Differences - Pros and Cons - Essay Example

Is it desirable for us to now abandon the politics of equality in favour of cultural differences? The politics of equality, once the most prevalent sentiment of the period, is slowly but absolutely giving way to the politics of cultural difference. In the larger frame of multiculturalism and globalism, the significance of cultural differences becomes easily comprehensible. Engaging the cultural differences has become of the most prevalent issues of the liberal democracies all over the world and tolerance many often attains central status in discussions on cultural differences. One of the essential questions concerning cultural differences is regarding how liberal democracies do and should respond to these differences in the cultural and religious practices of minorities. “Democratic societies are those in which the authority of those who govern is derived from the will of the people (typically determined by some form of vote). These societies are liberal to the extent that they are organized to guarantee basic liberties (such as freedom of expression, and religious practice) as well as various protections (for example, against discrimination, coercion, and abuse) to all society members in pursuit of a good life.” (Shweder, Minow, and Markus 2004 P. 2). The differences among the liberal democracies in the modern world have been the primary cause for different experiences for the minority groups. The ‘culturalist’ ethos of ‘multiculturalism has been a relevant issue in the Politics of Migration and Ethnicity, though ‘culturalism’ cannot be regarded as equivalent to ‘culture’. One of the most essential consequences of the hiatus of the discussions on the changing configurations of the power relations of economic, political, and cultural elements has been the need for meaningful discussions about ‘cultural difference’ in relation to the politics of equality and justice. Most often the concept of cultural difference is hijacked in the racialised discourse and practices, though the questions concerning the topic cannot be abandoned into oblivion due to the fact that it is at the heart of the of the issues of belonging, identity, and politics. Therefore, in the background of prevalent practice of discarding politics of equality for the cause of cultural differences, one of the essential questions for the Politics of Migration and Ethnicity to consider is whether it is enviable for us now to abandon the politics of equality in favour of cultural differences. To answer to this essential question, this profound analysis of the topic presumes that it is extremely desirable for the Politics of Migration and Ethnicity now to abandon the politics of equality in favour of cultural differences. The essential question whether it is enviable for us now to abandon the politics of equality in favour of cultural differences engages one in an examination of the challenges on multiculturalism in contemporary liberal democracies. Cultural diversity is the crude reality of modern era which is the product of various processes such as globalisation and growing migration across borders. In this rapidly globalising world, the mounting number of people migrating to better destinations, due mainly to labour market opportunities abroad and political turmoil back home, has resulted in an important global situation of ‘one nation and many cultures’. These realities of the modern multicultural environment also raise central questions concerning politics of equality and cultural differences. “Given global economic developments and emerging cultural and political trends, liberal democracies face not only burgeoning numbers of immigrants, but also their own hidden assumptions about the scope and limits of tolerance for cultural diversity. The particular history (or lack of history) of prior struggles over racial and religious diversity within each nation sets the legal and political framework for responses to current immigrants.” (Shweder, Minow, and Markus 2004 P. 4). Therefore, the central issues of the cultural differences in the multicultural backdrop of modern nations raise subsequent discussions and debates. One of the most evident realities concerning the issues is the fact that there is an attempt to abandon the politics of equality in favour of cultural differences. In other words, there is an essential shift in emphasis from the politics of equality to the politics of diversity. What makes this phenomenon greatly significant in the Politics of Migration and Ethnicity is an investigation on whether it is enviable for us now to abandon the politics of equality in favour of cultural differences. An immensely engaging topic of debates concerning democratic theory in the contemporary world concerns the connection between civic equality and public recognition of cultural difference among citizens belonging to different cultural backgrounds. There is a strong argument rising in favour of the ‘politics of recognition’ and the proponents of this argument promulgate that democratic justice requires positive public recognition of such identities. In fact, they demand more than mere tolerance of difference and the permission by democratic societies to citizens to express different identities in their clandestine dominion. “A number of theorists have begun using the phrase ‘politics of recognition’ to refer to the chorus of claims and aspirations voiced on behalf of groups denned by a sense of shared cultural, national, ethnic, racial, religious, gender, or sexual identity... Equal moral and political status, and hence democracy, cannot be achieved unless social institutions and sensibilities become more attentive to, and reflective of, cultural differences.” (Kiss 1999, P. 193). Therefore, the concept of politics of recognition has been historically novel and engages the crucial question of the time: can individuals be benefitted by the abandonment of politics of differences in favour of the cultural differences? The democratic struggles have frequently responded to the questions of cultural belonging and the identity of the groups. “What is new about the contemporary politics of recognition is more a matter of degree than of kind: demands for recognition by identity groups have gained greater immediacy and sharper theoretical focus. A number of historical processes, including increased immigration, colonialism and its aftermath, and the extension of democratic struggles to the domestic and sexual sphere, have brought struggles for recognition closer to home.” (Kiss 1999, P. 193). In fact, the politics of recognition is not similar to the politics of equality and it significantly links to the question of cultural differences. Only through the recognition of the cultural differences can the individuals and societies in the multicultural environment can find an excellent answer to the problems related with cultural identity and differences. Therefore, a move toward the recognition of the cultural differences has a strong impact in dealing with several issues of cultural differences including the more relevant questions of racism and ethnic issues. In a reflective analysis of the question whether it is enviable for us now to abandon the politics of equality in favour of cultural differences, it is most essential to deal with cultural differences and ethnicity in detail. The proponents of the politics of equality and justice need to realise the facts and realities of cultural differences as this would help them in answering this essential question. There is greater meaning for the concept of cultural differences beyond the realm of racialised discourses and practices. Significantly, one cannot comprehend culture independently of process of social development and the effects of ethnic diversity. Social meaning of culture is constituted, appropriated, and transformed in the idiom ‘culture is the play of signifying practices’. Though culture is essentially a process, it can be realised through the cultural artefacts such as custom, tradition, and values which connect to cultural differences. “Cultural difference...is the movement of reiterative performance that marks historically variable, fluid, internally differentiated, contested and contingent specialities. To say that they are contingent does not imply that they do not take identifiable form or that there are no continuities, if by continuity we mean the ongoing everyday re- assemblage of the familiar; a re-enactment that performatively changes as it repeats.” (Brah 1996, P 234). Therefore, cultural difference remains the essential reality of the period and there is no point in countering this reality. What is essential is to recognise cultural differences among the different cultural groups and renegotiate the demands of the politics of equality through this recognition of cultural differences. However, there is a counter point made by the critics of cultural differences who are concerned with the benefits of politics of equality. According to them, the pluralist multiculturalism, similar to the deconstructive anti-essentialism, fails to relate the cultural politics of identity and difference to a social politics of equality. “For the weaknesses of both share a common root: both fail to connect a cultural politics of identity and difference to a social politics of justice and equality. Neither appreciates the crux of the connection: cultural differences can only he freely elaborated and democratically mediated on the basis of social equality.” (Trend 1996, P 207). Though this argument has some truth in it, what is claimed in the argument is not completely factual and, more importantly, viable. An explicit recognition of the several issues connected with the efforts to provide social equality in various nations proves that the recognition of cultural differences is a far superior method of social justice than the politics of equality. In fact, the societies and individuals in the multicultural environment can achieve greater social equality and justice. Recognition of the cultural differences helps the progress of various groups in the multicultural setting. The new cultural relativism suggests that the strategies of ethnic mobilization which is based on discourses of absolute cultural continuity with past will actually be successful. “Even if one does not use the notion of ‘cultural invention’ in a pejorative sense, the fact remains that native people today are not, and indeed cannot be, culturally the same people... Moreover the boundaries that are constructed around these groups...are exceptionally indistinct. (Significantly), because of what has happened in the colonial past, many people who proclaim an identity as natives, as descendants of the aboriginal inhabitants, could as plausibly insist that they are descended from people of settler stock.” (Wilmsen 1996 P. 90). Recent tendencies to move away from the politics of equality to a more effective recognition or politics of cultural differences results in the benefits of the society and individual. The reflective analysis of the question whether it is desirable for us now to abandon the politics of equality in favour of cultural differences confirms that the development in the area leads to the benefits of the society as well as individuals. In other words, it is greatly desirable and advantageous to abandon the politics of equality in favour of cultural differences. Recognition of the differences of culturally distinct groups has a greater role in the reduction of the cultural struggle among these groups than the recognition of their equality. Therefore, the politics of difference is the most effective alternative to the politics of equality. “The struggle for recognition by ignored, or deracinated distinct groups, occurs in the context of wider differences in the politics and ethics of liberal societies, between the universalisation of individual rights and the affirmation of cultural differences. The politics of difference creates another form of liberalism, which sees collective identities coming into conflict or competition with rights to equal individual liberties. There is a tendency in the search for balanced equality to respond favourably to all claims of recognition that come along.” (Niezen 2003 P. 135). In fact, this is an essential homogenising approach to cultural differences because cultural applicants seek affirmation from a central source and this form of liberalism helps societies deal with the fundamental problems of the period. The recognition of difference lead to the recognition of equality and it becomes lucid that the politics of difference is the most effective alternative to the politics of equality. In other words, one may presume, based on the reflective analysis of the modern multicultural situation, that it is greatly desirable and advantageous to abandon the politics of equality in favour of cultural differences. The stance taken by the left-liberal multiculturalists substantiates this argument. “Left-liberal multiculturalism emphasizes cultural differences and suggests that the stress on the equality of races smothers those important cultural differences between races that are responsible for different behaviours, values, attitudes, cognitive styles, and social practices. Left-liberal multiculturalists feel that mainstream approaches to multiculturalism occlude characteristics and differences related to race, class, gender, and sexuality.” (Sleeter and McLaren 1995, P. 40-41). In conclusion, one of the most essential issues of the contemporary multicultural societies in different nations of the world has been how to incorporate the demands of cultural groups for social equality and justice without harming the interest of the natives. Whereas the general conventions of the sociological concerns favoured the politics of equality, there is an important shift toward the recognition of cultural differences or the politics of differences. Significantly, the concept of cultural difference has often been hijacked in the racialised discourse and practices. However, it is important to focus more on the concept of cultural difference as a means to alleviate the problems faced by cultural groups in the multicultural setting. Therefore, in the background of prevalent practice of discarding politics of equality for the cause of cultural differences, one of the essential questions for the Politics of Migration and Ethnicity to consider is whether it is enviable for us now to abandon the politics of equality in favour of cultural differences. In answering to this fundamental question in cultural studies and the Politics of Migration and Ethnicity, this reflective analysis of the topic concludes that it is extremely desirable for societies and individuals now to abandon the politics of equality in favour of cultural differences. Bibliography BRAH, A. (1996). Cartographies of Diaspora: Contesting Identities. London: Routledge. P. 234. KISS, Elizabeth. (1999). “Democracy and the Politics of Recognition.” Democracy’s Edges. Ian Shapiro and Casiano Hacker-Cordón. (Ed). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. P. 193. NIEZEN, Ronald. (2003). The origins of indigenism: human rights and the politics of identity. New York: University of California Press. P. 135. SHWEDER, Richard A., MINOW, Martha., and MARKUS, Hazel Rose. (2004). Engaging Cultural Differences: The Multicultural Challenge in Liberal Democracies. Russell Sage Foundation. P. 2. SLEETER, Christine E. and MCLAREN, Peter. (1995). Multicultural education, critical pedagogy, and the politics of difference. SUNY Press, P. 40-41. TREND, David. (1996). Radical Democracy: Identity, Citizenship, and the State. London: Routledge. P 207. WILMSEN, Edwin N. (1996). The politics of difference: ethnic premises in a world of power. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. P. 90. Read More