Multiculturalism



The term multiculturalism generally refers to an applied ideology of racial, cultural and ethnic diversity within the demographics of a specified place, usually at the scale of an organization such as a school, business, neighborhood, city or nation.




Some countries have official policies of multiculturalism aimed at recognizing, celebrating and maintaining the different cultures or cultural identities within that society to promote social cohesion. Multiculturalism advocates a society that extends equitable status to distinct cultural and religious groups, with no one culture predominating.



There are many advocates of multiculturalism particularly in academia and the media. The ideology remains controversial and is opposed by those who support particular cultural standards.




Multiculturalism was adopted as official policy, in several Western nations from the 1970s onward, for reasons that varied from country to country; the great cities of the Western world are increasingly made of a so many different types of cultures.


Government multicultural policies may include:

• Recognition of multiple citizenship (the multiple citizenship itself usually results from the nationality laws of another country);

• Government support for newspapers, television, and radio in minority languages
  Support for minority festivals, holidays, and celebrations;

• Acceptance of traditional and religious dress in schools, the military, and society in general
  Support for music and arts from minority cultures ;

• Programs to encourage minority representation in politics, SET (Science, Engineering and Technology), Mathematics, education, and the work force in general;

• Enforcement of different codes of law on members of each ethnic group (e.g. Malaysia enforces Shar'ia law, but only for a particular ethnic group).

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