Migration and Cultural Pluralism Melange

Migration and Cultural Pluralism

Melange Cities, Blair a Ruble. The Wilson Quarterly; Summer 2006; 30, 3; Academic Research Library.

One of the great ironies of civilization is the disposition of righteous entitlement which has allowed groups large and small to claim entitlement and connectivity to lands in a way that removes the history of their own migration. Such is an idea which Ruble (2006) exposes as hypocrisy and convenient shortsightedness. His article on the concept of urban migration frames it as an issue of relevance not just in the modern context where it is often politicized and framed according to permeating racial hierarchies, but also in this history of humanity, where ethnicities and nations came to be after countless patterns of ethnic cross-breeding, migration, war and diplomacy.

As the article by Ruble contends, "migrants of all sorts -- immigrants, emigrants, refugees, displaced persons, guest workers -- have become a significant presence in cities around the world. According to the UN Human Settlements Program, there are approximately 175 million official international migrants worldwide, not including those without complete documentation. Even this massive movement of people is not unprecedented." (Ruble, 56)

The article is particularly valuable from the perspective that these patterns have not simply demonstrated the human proclivity toward migration but have also demonstrated the degree to which this has shaped our world today. Perceptions, for instance, of entitlement in the U.S. amongst the descendents of European immigrants to restrict immigration of Mexicans, is an illustration of the political imperatives shaping views on migration. As the article by Ruble effectively demonstrates, these imperatives are often adopted with little reflection on the historical implications of immigration, which have done nothing less than facilitated the birth of Australia, the United States and the independent nations of Europe.

2. Cultural Pluralism: The Case for Benign Neglect, Micheal James. Review - Institute of Public Affairs; Sep 1998; 50,4; ABI/INFORM Global. Pg. 14

In many ways, it has become the accepted logic that we have a shared interest in pushing forward the goals and ambitions of a more multicultural society. The argument that racial, ethnic and religious prejudices have long sustained problematic social hierarchies has precipitated a type of multiculturalism that is designed to compensate those who are not of the hegemonic culture. In Australia, the article by James (1998) argues, this is producing a social and political backlash that has actually been to the detriment of its immigrant population and its cultural identity in simultaneity.

According to the article by James, the era of multiculturalism would lead to a sentiment toward greater Australian nationalism amongst those who felt that this effort was both eroding Australia's cultural identity and diminishing the rights of those historical tied to said identity. In one account, James notes that multiculturalism has led to a policy of "treating all persons from non-English-speaking backgrounds as officially 'disadvantaged' and hence entitled to special treatment regardless of actual need. Equally important, in my judgement, is the way multiculuralism has seemed to question the status of the established culture of the country." (James, 15)