Class 6 - The Challenge of Multiculturalism

Check in

As usual, let’s check in!

Talking through questions on multiculturalism

We’ll start by talking through the questions your fellow students have asked and posted on the discussion board. Look through the discussion board, and see what questions other students have raised.

Choose one other person’s question that you think is intriguing or powerful. Write it down.

Now write in response to this question for 10 minutes.

When time is up, post your response to the discussion board.

We’ll talk through these in the larger group.

On multiculturalism

Kapuściński sees multiculturalism as a reflection of our present global order. There is a potential openness, he says, that is brought about by the end of the Cold War, and the development of better global communications — both electronic and transport links.

Here, he makes several claims that may have looked more convincing in 2006 when the lectures were first given than in 2023. For example, the claim that there is an end of the era of coups and dictators, and the claim that democracy is becoming fashionable.

But there are also some interesting claims that may be worth exploring. For example:

1. The greater awareness of Others has led to a deepening of questions of identity, as well as a rise in nationalism and racism.
2. Linguistic relativity makes dialogue difficult.
3. There is a tension in our relation to the Other: we both seek them out, and we also mistrust them.
4. Europe is increasingly no longer a reference point for how we think about the world, or how power works within the world.

Multiculturalism

Let’s take some time to discuss the following questions

1. What does “multiculturalism” mean to you?
2. Is multiculturalism something we should aspire to? If so, why?
3. What are the down sides of multiculturalism? What threats does it pose?
4. What are the roots of multiculturalism, or what conditions or factors need to be in place for there to be a multicultural society?
5. What conditions or factors might prevent the arising of a multicultural society?

You have 20 minutes. Appoint a spokesperson in each room to feed back to the main group. Then we’ll have an all-group discussion.

Break!

Let’s have a tea break to rest our brains.

Multiculturalism in Myanmar

I’m going to give you another writing exercise. I want you to use this writing to think about the application of these ideas of multiculturalism in Myanmar:

What challenges and opportunities does multiculturalism present for the future of Myanmar?

I’ll get you to write individually about this, and then to discuss in groups.

Homework

We’re going to continue thinking about these topics by moving onto our next book, another series of lectures, this time by Toni Morrison, and her book The Origin of Others. The book is on Perlego. https://www.perlego.com/book/3119955/the-origin-of-others-pdf

We’ll read chapter 1 for next week, which looks at the history of slavery. And it asks an obvious, but perplexing, question. How is that that something as abhorrent as slavery could have been justified by those who supported it? What processes underpin this justification?

Post to Canvas with a concise summary of Morrison’s argument in this chapter. This is a graded task.