This work seeks to explore the contemporary challenge of government in multicultural societies, drawing together a wide range of contributors to examine how ethnic difference could better understood and mediated by modern nation states.
Divided into three sections, the book centres round the notion that changing patterns of migration bring escalating obstacles to integration or assimilation. In the first section, contributors focus on the theory that immigrants are the actors that catalyze contemporary multicultural dilemmas within states, with a particular focus on diaspora and how a diaspora community may differ in some ways from other kinds of immigrant community. Section two identifies key factors in shaping ethnic identity before moving on to examine the state of the debate over whether identity can be changed or manipulated. The contributors to this section provide valuable insights into the catalysts and causes of ethnic division and tension, by showing factors in the development of ethnic identity. In the third section, the focus turns to strategies for mediating multicultural challenges and managing internal diversity in multicultural society, offering structural and institutional solutions with evidence of application in specific cases and country contexts.
Offering a comprehensive overview of this pressing issue and drawing on a wide range of case studies, this work will be of interest to students and scholars of migration, political sociology & race and ethnic studies.
Table of Contents:
Preface: Multuculturalism and Ethnic Politics through the work of William Safran 1. Introduction: THe Multicultural Dilemma Michelle Hale Williams Section 1: Understanding Key Actors in the Growth of Multicultural Societies: Conceptualizing Immigrants and Diaspora 2. The Limitations of Grand Migration Theory: Embedding Experiences of Immigration and Immigrant Incorporation within their Appropriate National, Regional and Local Settings Anthony Messina 3. Globalization, Diaspora and Transnationalism: Challenges and Opportunities for the Indian Diaspora Ajaya Sahoo Section 2: Factors in Ethnic Identity and Nationalism: Considering the Role of Language, Religion, Citizenship Criteria, Education, and Resource Inequality 4. Conceptualizing the Nation: Myths, Imagined Communities or Multi Ethnic Realities? The Cases of Israel, France, and the United States Nancy Kwang Johnson 5. Do Religion and Language as Identity Markers Promote Ethnocentrism and Xenophobia? A Theoretical Exploration Ray Taras 6. Islamic Identity, Yes, Islamist Parties, No: The Mainstreaming of Political Islam and its Challenge for Islamist Parties Julie Chernov Hwang 7. The Importance of Citizenship Criteria: Jewishness between Ethnicity, Religion and Nationalism during the First World War from the Point of View of André Suarès Jean Tournon 8. Learning How to Remember: Education and Collective Memory Formation as a Tool in Reconciliation Philip Barker and Alicia Houser 9. Institutions to Bridge Troubled Waters: Water-User Associations and Interests, Identities, Conflict and Cooperation Jenny R. Kehl 10. "Primordialism" and the Study of Nationalism John Coakley Section 3: Mediating Multicultural Challenges: State and Institutional Responses 11. Consociationalism and Conflict Resolution Adrian Guelke 12. State and Stateless Nationalisms, Old and New Diversities, and Federal Governance Luis Moreno 13. Evaluating Party Politicization of Immigration Michelle Hale Williams 14. The Long Twilight of Jaconbinism: Evaluating the French Assimilationist Model Steve Majstorovic 15. Conclusion: Dealing with the Multicultural Dilemma Michelle Hale Williams
