DIFFERENT PEOPLES, ONE WORLD Historic and Immigration- based Multiculturalism HARI SRINIVAS ROOM: I-312 / Studies in Multicultural Societies

“Multi”Cultural Societies? Multicultural societies relates to communities containing multiple cultures. A group of people living within a geographically defined are … Culture that can be defined using different criteria such as religion, fiid, language, music, dance, art etc.

Multiculturalism in Australia Australia by its very nature is a multicultural country. It was essentially created by three waves of migration: 1.Pre-historic ancient migration of people from Asia, who became the Australian aboriginals 2.Pre-World War II migration from Britain and other European countries 3.Post-World War II migration from Asia and other regions WAVE

Multiculturalism in Australia Original meaning New meaning People come to Australia from different countries with different cultural backgrounds Australians have different cultural backgrounds which define their identity and ethnicity The Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs in Australia estimated that, in 2010: 25% of the Australian workforce was born outside of Australia 40% had at least one parent born outside of Australia.

Multiculturalism in Australia

Top 10 Countries of birth Estimated resident population(2006) Estimated resident population(2010) United Kingdom1,153,2641,192,878 New Zealand476,719544,171 China203,143379,776 India153,579340,604 Italy220,469216,303 Vietnam180,352210,803 Philippines135,619177,389 South Africa118,816155,692 Malaysia103,947135,607 Germany114,921128,558 resident population.

Multiculturalism in Australia Of course, Australia was not a perfect multicultural society! There were problems …

Multiculturalism in Australia FOUR PRINCIPLES: Multiculturalism makes Australia a vibrant and creative country People of all cultures have equal opportunity to grow and expand Multiculturalism provides much needed skills and labour to meet the needs of the economy Australia opposes all forms of discrimination and intolerance The new multicultural policy of Australia

Multiculturalism in Australia Lessons learnt from Australia: A nation created by historic movement of people, as well as recent migration, resulting in a multicultural society. A government policy that clearly understands the meaning and benefits of multiculturalism, and uses it for the development of the country and its economy.

Multiculturalism is here to stay The principle that several different cultures (rather than one national culture) can coexist peacefully and equitably in a single community or country There has always been problems with multicultural societies Race discrimination Fear and distrust of “strange foreigners” Different lifestyle abd values Yes, we are still facing these problems …

Mixing Cultures In multicultural societies, different cultures come together and mix … As melting pots As salad bowls Everything gets mixed together! Everything stays separate and unique! Eg. New York Eg. Singapore

People have always moved … People have always moved from one place to another … Historically, as a part of a nomadic lifestyle, bringing people from different cultures togehter More recently, government policies on migration have also brought people together CREATING MULTICULTURAL SOCIETIES

Moving cultures People take with them a number of different aspects of their culture, and take steps to preserve them in their new location Religion Language Food Music Dance Art Dress

People have always moved … People have always moved for different reasons: Economic reasons: Trade and jobs Religious reasons: Pilgrimage War and conflict: Displacement And they have always taken their cultures with them! Visible Culture: +anguage, art, music, dance, food, religion, dress etc. Invisible Culture: Values, norms, morals etc.

Changing cultures In the new places, people have made their mark in many ways – They have destroyed the local culture and replaced their own culture They have set up their own distinct corners in the country They have integrated and become part of the local culture

Changing cultures Integrated more broadly into the local culture, but maintained their identity Created pockets of unique cultures different from the local culture Destroyed and replaced local cultures Historic trends in multiculturalism Migration-based multiculturalism

Historic movement of people … Examples of historic movement of people: Africans moving north to Europe and other regions in prehistoric times Malays moving south to different parts of southeast Asia Mayans moving to different parts of south America Creating multicultural societies in new places

Migration of people … Examples of migration-based movement of people: Europeans moving to the Americas Dutch, British (and later others) settlers to South Africa Chinese migrating to Southeast Asia Creating multicultural societies in new places

Policy-making with Culture The policies that we develop require people and communities to – Implement activities Interact as a group Work towards a goal Change behaviour Understanding the dimensions of their unique and individual culture helps us design policies that are appropriate to the context and culture.

Benefits of multiculturalism But the benefits of multiculturalism are too many to ignore, including for example: Increased innovation and creativity Interesting community character and variety Entrepreneurship for business development and economic growth

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