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Does the New Doxa of Integrationism Make Multicultural Education a Contemporary Heresy?

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Controversies in Education

Part of the book series: Policy Implications of Research in Education ((PIRE,volume 3))

Abstract

Contemporary understandings of integrationism as the bulwark of social cohesion have been particularly influential, including in Europe. This has both reflected and promulgated a backlash against multiculturalism, which has come to represent a threat subsequent to the events of September 11th, 2001. Cultural difference is taken to be dangerous and multiculturalism with its strong association with such difference is understood to challenge social cohesion. There is a certain irony in this, given the common academic depictions of multiculturalism as conservative. Thus integrationism has become the new doxa, while multiculturalism is decried by conservatives and reformists alike. Multiculturalism, even a liberal rendition, has become a heresy and in this context it behooves us to revisit what is involved. By doing so we can perhaps reflect on the current state of affairs and consider the place of cultural difference in how Australianness is constituted in public discourses, including those related to education policy and curriculum.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Federation University, Ballarat, Australia

    Georgina Tsolidis

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  1. Georgina Tsolidis
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Correspondence to Georgina Tsolidis .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Fac. Education & Social Work, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Helen Proctor

  2. Fac. Education & Social Work, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Patrick Brownlee

  3. University of Sydney Fac. Education & Social Work, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Peter Freebody

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Tsolidis, G. (2015). Does the New Doxa of Integrationism Make Multicultural Education a Contemporary Heresy?. In: Proctor, H., Brownlee, P., Freebody, P. (eds) Controversies in Education. Policy Implications of Research in Education, vol 3. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08759-7_10

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