Multiculturalism Promotes Social Segregation. Discuss Essay

Multiculturalism Promotes Social Segregation. Discuss - Essay Example The third part of the essay will look at the concept of multiculturalism in the context of Britain and France. The paper will try to rationally access the fact as to whether UK is truly a multicultural society and does multiculturalism has some measure of positive relevance for the British society. With respect to France, the paper will look into why the French give no consideration to the concept of multiculturalism and as to why they cherish and encourage citizenship over multiculturalism. As already said, the term multiculturalism has acquired a ubiquitous usage in current times; still the reality is that this term needs to be interpreted in relation to the context in which it is used. The most commonly held belief is that multiculturalism is about the celebration of diverse cultures and about accepting the varied values, social systems and ethnic backgrounds coexisting in a society. To put it simply, multiculturalism is primarily about respecting and accepting differences so as to facilitate social and cultural integration. Well, is this multiculturalism is all about, or is it a convenient term to sideline the segregation heaped on varied sections of a society. Most of the times, people and even experts shudder at the very idea dissecting the term multiculturalism probably fearing that it may give way to some kind of undesirable backlash. Thus, nobody ever dared to arrive at a realistic and viable definition of multiculturalism. However, there are some debates buildi ng up around the ideas of multiculturalism and diversity, the possible fall of multiculturalism, because of it being a pseudo system that promotes segregation, though on the surface it professes to respect cultural, religious and ethnic diversity. It is an attempt to understand multiculturalism as a cacophonous discourse that camouflages the invisibility and isolation existing in the multicultural societies. The report by Parekh (2000) interestingly discusses the concept of multiculturalism in both the British and French context. The central argument of Parekh is that though both the countries are multicultural in a simplistic sense of the word, there exists is a great difference as to the magnitude of acceptance for the concept of multiculturalism in both the nations. France does not acknowledge multiculturalism, but rather encourages and supports citizenship (Parekh 2000). France requires the citizens who are not familiar with the French culture and heritage, to educate themselves about them (Parekh 2000). It is somewhat akin to the German stance; when one considers the recent remarks by Merkel declaring that multiculturalism has failed and it’s time to face this fact. As per Merkel, the concept of multiculturalism was contrived to get people together, but instead it has separated them and has created conflicts amongst groups. Interestingly, Parekh (2000) evinces a great interest in the politics of multiculturalism. The recent political reforms are raising queries as to how varied interest groups tend to manipulate the concept of multiculturalism for their own political gains. The adherents of multiculturalism consider it to be essentially organic and solid, yet they do fail to see its practical implications. They only tend to do so when the conservatives put forth the arguments pertaining to the failure of multiculturalism. Though multiculturalism has to do with respect and humanity, still the truth is that