Abstract
Contemporary societies are characterised by increasing cultural diversity. However, diversity has become a source of conflict and intolerance among people belonging to different cultural affiliations. Sheetal Sharma argues that there is a need for reducing differences between culturally diverse groups, through institutional frameworks that guarantee freedom and respect for all. Multiculturalism as a policy option attempts to manage cultural diversity. Multiculturalism has been criticised because it views cultural differences in essentialised and static terms, reinforcing ethnic differences and breeding separatism. Sharma asserts that multiculturalism has failed to provide a viable and sustainable sense of unity in multicultural societies. Drawing on the experiences of India and Europe, the author attempts to capture the contours of multiculturalism and to identify possible combination of philosophical, theoretical and practical measures for promoting sustainable and effective social integration in multicultural societies.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
Some of the noted empires in the history were the Aryans (c. 2000 BC), the Mauryan Empire (326–200 BC), and the Gupta Empire (AD 320–550 BC).
- 2.
As per the statistics released by Eurostat, the population of the EU was estimated at 510.1 million; there were 35.1 million people born outside of the EU-28 living in an EU member state, while there were 19.3 million persons who had been born in a different EU member state from the one where they were resident (EUROSTAT 2016). They represented approximately 6.8% of the total EU population.
- 3.
In Germany, the official statistics reveal that last year there were about 1000 such attacks, five times the number reported in 2014. In the town of Bautzen, people cheered and clapped as a refugee shelter went up in flames after a suspected arson attack (Source: Hill 2016).
- 4.
In 2005, violence swept across France for more than two weeks when two French Muslim teenagers were accidentally electrocuted while hiding in a power substation. Rioting by French youths spread to 300 towns overnight and the 11 days of unrest shocked the country. The urban unrest spread to neighboring Belgium and Germany (The Guardian 2005).
- 5.
In Germany, for instance, Turkish people and other southern Europeans who arrived to work in German factories were considered ‘Gastarbeiter’ (‘guest workers’). As Chancellor Angela Merkel stated in 2012, Germans thought they would go back to their countries after two years, but instead they brought their families. Over decades, German nationality was denied to these people as the ‘jus sanguinis’ rule permitted only those with German parentage to have German nationality (Lopes Paulos 2017).
- 6.
The Eurobarometer survey conducted on migrant integration found that one of the reasons for resentment against migrants is that natives feel that migrants are taking employment opportunities away from local people, and the sentiment is exacerbated in the wake of a recession and slow-down in many economies. This animosity leads to fear among natives; consequently, migrants also resist interaction and efforts at integration in general. Migrants feel more comfortable interacting with their those from their own countries. Fear and apprehension on both the sides, like a vicious circle, become a cause and consequence of distance between different communities, leading to ghettoisation, exclusion and discrimination. In such a scenario, efforts to make ‘outsiders’ part of the mainstream lose much of their potency.
- 7.
A term coined in 2008 by Moufakkir defined as “the context where two cultures live together, but at a level of acceptance that has developed from a state of euphoria, apathy to annoyance, or even antagonism”.
- 8.
According to data released by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Uttar Pradesh has witnessed the highest number of communal incidents in India in 2017, with 60 incidents and 16 deaths reported from the state. According to the data, 2017 witnessed a total of 296 incidents of communal violence in the country. A total of 44 deaths was reported. In the preceding years, the number of incidents was 703 and 751 in 2016 and 2015, respectively. The number of deaths was 86 and 97, respectively (Outlook 2017).
- 9.
Dalit groups have been victims of crimes and atrocities at the hands of the upper castes—largely on account of their low-caste identity—in the form of the rape of women, abuse by police personnel, harassment of lower-caste village council heads, illegal land encroachments, forced evictions, and so on (Sharma 2015). According to news agencies, a 21-year-old Dalit man was beaten to death allegedly by a group of men belonging to the upper caste Patel community for attending a garba event in Gujarat’s Anand district. In yet another incident, two Dalit men were allegedly thrashed by members of the Rajput community for “sporting a moustache” in two separate incidents at a village near Gandhinagar (Bhan 2017).
- 10.
In Maharashtra, the presence of ‘others’ (migrants from a particular region with a different language and set of cultural practices) in a politico-linguistic area was vehemently opposed by the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, led by Raj Thackrey, which was clearly a parochial and jingoistic move. The issue raised the emotional temperature, deliberately creating a divide between ‘indigenous’ and ‘migrants’ in order to garner popular votes and consolidate political position at the local level.
References
Ash, A. (2004). Multi-Ethnicity and the Idea of Europe. Theory Culture & Society, 21(2), 1–24.
Banting, K., & Kymlicka, W. (2010). Is There Really a Backlash Against Multiculturalism Policies? New Evidence from the Multiculturalism Policy Index. Working Paper 2012:4. Retrieved January 23, 2018, from http://www.su.se/polopoly_fs/1.103203.1349356868!/menu/standard/file/SULCIS_WP2012_4.pdf.
Bhan, R. (2017, October 2). Dalit Man, 21, Beaten to Death Allegedly for Attending Garba in Gujarat. NDTV. Retrieved January 26, 2018, from https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/dalit-man-21-beaten-to-death-allegedly-for-attending-garba-in-gujarat-1757498.
Bhargava, R., Kumar Bagchi, A., & Sudarshan, R. (2007). Multiculturalism, Liberalism and Democracy. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Bosswick, W., & Heckmann, F. (2006). Integration of Migrants: Contribution of Local and Regional Authorities. European Forum for Migration Studies (EFMS) at the University of Bamberg, Germany: European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, Dublin. Retrieved January 26, 2018, from www.eurofound.europa.eu/pubdocs/2006/22/en/1/ef0622en.pdf.
Euractiv. (2016, June 20). UN Refugee Chief: Worrying ‘Climate of Xenophobia’ in Europe. Retrieved December 13, 2017, from https://www.euractiv.com/section/global-europe/news/un-refugee-chief-worrying-climate-of-xenophobia-in-europe/.
European Union. (2013). Study on Practices of Integration of Third-Country Nationals at Local and Regional Level in the European Union. The Report Written by the Centre for Strategy and Evaluation Services (CSES). Retrieved June 13, 2017, from http://cor.europa.eu/en/documentation/studies/Documents/survey_integration_3rd_country_nationals/survey_integration_3rd_country_nationals.pdf.
EUROSTAT. (2016, July 8). First Population Estimates. Newsrelease 134/2016. Retrieved June 21, 2017, from http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/2995521/7553787/3-08072016-AP-EN.pdf/c4374d2a-622f-4770-a287-10a09b3001b6.
EUROSTAT. (2017). Migration and Migrant Population Statistics. Retrieved June 21, 2017, from http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Migration_and_migrant_population_statistics.
Hall, S. (2001). The Multicultural Question. Papers in Social and Cultural Research No. 4, Pavis Centre for Social and Cultural Research, The Open University, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom. Retrieved June 12, 2017, from http://www.open.ac.uk/socialsciences/pavis/papers.php.
Hill, J. (2016, February 22). Migrant Attacks Reveal Dark Side of Germany. Retrieved January 26, 2018, from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35633318.
Horn, H. (2015, October 16). Is Eastern Europe Any More Xenophobic Than Western Europe? The Atlantic. Retrieved December 2017, from https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/10/xenophobia-eastern-europe-refugees/410800/.
Kymlicka, W. (2007). Multicultural Odysseys. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lopes Paulos, F. (2017, July 31). Multiculturalism in Europe. One Europe. Retrieved December 13, 2017, from http://one-europe.net/multiculturalism-in-europe.
Mahajan, G. (2007). Multiculturalism in the Age of Terror. Political Studies Review, 5(3), 317–336.
Mammone, A. (2016, October 7). In Europe, Xenophobia Is Winning Over Rationality. CNN International Edition. Retrieved December 12, 2017, from http://edition.cnn.com/2016/10/07/opinions/xenophobia-over-rationality-mammone/index.html.
Meyer, H. (2015, November 18). A Note on Terrorism, Muslims and Multiculturalism. Social Europe. Retrieved June 21, 2017, from https://www.socialeurope.eu/2015/11/a-note-on-terrorism-muslims-and-multiculturalism/.
Nehru, J. (1961). Discovery of India. Bombay: Asia Publishing House.
Outlook. (2017, August 9). UP Witnesses 60 Communal Incidents, 16 Deaths in 2017, Highest in the Country. Retrieved January 26, 2018, from https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/up-witnesses-60-communal-incidents-16-deaths-in-2017-highest-in-the-country/300193.
Parekh, B. (1999, December). What Is Multiculturalism. Seminar, No. 484. Retrieved May 3, 2017, from www.india-seminar.com/1999/484/484%20parekh.htm.
Parekh, B. (2000). Rethinking Multiculturalism. In Cultural Diversity and Political Theory (2nd ed.). Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.
Pathak, A. (2006). Modernity, Globalization and Identity: Towards a Reflexive Quest. New Delhi: Aakar Books.
Sharma, S. (2014a). Social Integration in Multicultural Societies: A Comparative Study of India and Europe. In R. K. Jain (Ed.), Multiculturalism in India and Europe (pp. 49–71). New Delhi: Aakar Books.
Sharma, S. (2014b). Multiculturalism and the Social Structure in India and Europe. In R. K. Jain (Ed.), Multiculturalism in India and Europe (pp. 1–25). New Delhi: Aakar Books.
Sharma, S. (2015). Caste-Based Crimes and Economic Status: Evidence from India. Journal of Comparative Economics, 43(1), 204–226.
Stokes, B. (2016, July 22). The Immigration Crisis Is Tearing Europe Apart. Foreign Policy. Retrieved December 14, 2017, from http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/07/22/the-immigration-crisis-is-tearing-europe-apart/.
Sunderland, J. (2016, January 13). For Europe, Integrating Refugees Is the Next Big Challenge. World Politics Review. Retrieved June 21, 2017, from https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/01/13/europe-integrating-refugees-next-big-challenge.
The Guardian. (2005, November 6). Violence Sweeps France in 10th Night of Riots. Retrieved January 26, 2018, from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/nov/06/france.davidsmith.
The Independent. (2016, October 4). Brexit Vote Has Led to Noticeable Rise in UK Xenophobia. Watchdog Warns. Retrieved December 12, 2017, from http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/brexit-vote-has-led-to-noticeable-rise-in-uk-xenophobia-watchdog-warns-a7343646.html.
The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA). (2016, December 16). Defining “Multiculturalism”. Retrieved May 12, 2017, from https://www.ifla.org/publications/defining-multiculturalism.
Vertovec, S., & Wessendorf, S. (2009). Assessing the Backlash Against Multiculturism in Europe. MMG WP 09-04, Göttingen: Max Planck Institute. Retrieved January 26, 2018, from www.mmg.mpg.de/publications/working-papers/2009/wp-09-04/.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Sharma, S. (2019). Multiculturalism in India and Europe: Policy and Practice. In: Sachdeva, G. (eds) Challenges in Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1636-4_14
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1636-4_14
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-13-1635-7
Online ISBN: 978-981-13-1636-4
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)