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Across immigrant-receiving democracies, 'multiculturalism' has come under assault by political decision-makers and commentators. The academic debate, while less fiery, is also heated. We start by outlining the multiple meanings of 'multiculturalism': a term for demographic diversity; a political philosophy of equality or justice; a set of policies to recognize and accommodate ethno-racial and religious diversity; or a public discourse recognizing and valorizing pluralism. We then review the existing empirical literature and offer some new statistical analyses to assess what we know about the harm or benefits of multicultural policies, focusing on sociopolitical outcomes. We conclude that multicultural policies appear to have some modest positive effects on sociopolitical integration for first-generation immigrants and likely little direct effect, positive or negative, on those in the second generation. On the question of majority backlash, the limited scholarship is mixed; we speculate that multiculturalism works best in places where both minorities and majority residents see it as part of a common national project. We end by considering the conditions under which this happens and whether there are distinctions between 'Anglo-settler' and other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on one segment of a research project that was funded by the former Prairie Metropolis Centre. The research utilizes a large quantitative data set in Canada, the Ethnic Diversity Survey, to develop a specific index to measure the social, cultural, and civic integration of immigrants in Canada and then selectively applies it for some comparative analyses. The paper begins with a definition of integration and then reviews the literature on measuring immigrant integration in Europe and the United States as well as the relevant Canadian literature that foregrounds the variables that we considered for a Canadian immigrant integration index. We then explain how, using factor analysis, our immigrant integration index is developed for Canada. Finally, the paper applies this social integration index and presents some of the results where this index is applied. More specifically, this last part of the paper presents comparative social integration index scores and analysis for: 1) nativity (comparing immigrants to the Canadian-born); 2) generational status; 3) racialized (visible) minority status; and 3) nativity by generation and racialized (visible) minority status. While there are statistically significant differences in all of these comparisons, one of our major findings is that integration, as measured by our index, is not that different between immigrants and the Canadian-born. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines how minority ethnic audiences are measured, and thus constructed, in the Netherlands today. The analysis shows that this process is tightly woven into the dominant assimilationist and neoliberal discourse. This discourse portrays specific minority groups as deviant in relation to an essentialized notion of Dutchness. Furthermore, it presents social inclusion as an opportunity that is limited to well-adjusted, profitable consumers. Different attempts to represent minority audiences – including efforts to promote a more just minority representation in Dutch media – are compelled to accommodate to this dominant discourse. The article underscores the limited scope for contesting current hegemonic representations of minority groups and national belonging in the Netherlands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In light of the increasing attention for 'integration' in multinational societies, it seems important to have a good understanding of what 'integration' means, and what it takes. By way of preliminary analysis the different models to deal with population diversity are discussed. Subsequently, the concept integration is analysed, both in terms of scope (the population groups it applies to) as in terms of content. An analysis of an overarching meaning of the concept 'integration' (and its relationship to assimilation, integration as a two way process and citizenship), is followed by the identification of the relevant themes, which are translated in terms of the minority condition. In light of this conceptual framework both the text of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM), its commentary and the related supervisory practice are analysed. Considering the focus of the FCNM on the protection of minorities, the baseline of the FCNM is bound to be 'integration without forced assimilation'. A closer analysis of the supervisory practice confirms the central importance of effective protection against discrimination, effective participation and also education. Notwithstanding the various important clarifications on integration in the supervisory practice, some themes are missing, like the pros and cons of private minority education. Further research seems warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The records of the rabbinic court in late eighteenth-century Metz offer substantial evidence of acculturation and integration in the decades prior to the attainment of Jewish civic equality. In the modern state, the wide application of judicial procedures imposed on minority populations such as the Jews an unprecedented attachment to the larger society. This is reflected in the internalization of norms of legal culture, particularly in matters relating to business partnerships, purchase and sale, torts, inheritance, registration, and familial obligations. The administration of talmudic law in eighteenth century Metz therefore entailed familiarity with royal legislation and local ordinances, as is apparent in two discrete areas: the routinizing of civil procedures in the beit din and the navigation of plural jurisdictions exercised by the Jewish and French justice systems. The Jews of Metz met the challenges of legal pluralism by adapting to the prevailing system of law within French society and by acknowledging the interdependence of cases brought before the beit din and in the French civil court system. Decades before the Jewish population of France was admitted to citizenship, Metz Jews had little choice but to accommodate to general civil law and its structures. Within the realm of law, there emerged new rules of engagement between the Jewish minority and the surrounding society and culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthony Lester tackles the complex and sensitive issues of multiculturalism and free speech. He explores the various meanings given to multiculturalism, integration and assimilation, as well as the relationship between the right to equality and dignity for ethnic and religious minorities and the right to freedom of expression. Placing our multicultural society in its historical context, he considers the treatment of Commonwealth immigrants in the 1960s and 1970s and discusses more recent confrontations involving racial or religious groups which have raised the right to free speech. He argues that our approach to integration and cultural diversity should promote equality and individuality but resist unreasonable demands to respect customs and practices which, for example, harm the rights of women and children, in the name of misguided multiculturalism. We must guard against political correctness that panders to the thin-skinned but remember that the right to offend does not mean a duty to do so. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on the assimilation, separation, integration and marginalization as the four acculturation strategies used by the young ethnic minority in multicultural societies in Latvia. The four acculturation strategies primarily focus on socialization to the larger society, adoption to cultural values and norms, and interaction with society members. The successful use of the acculturation strategies result to the adjustment and adaptation of the person to a larger society and environment. Language has been viewed as a primary medium for acculturation.

This literature review features the main theoretical frameworks from which modern anthropological immigration and migration studies have been conducted. It was not until the 1950s and 1960s that immigration/migration became a high-priority area for anthropologists when they noted the high rate of rural-to-urban migration, particularly in Africa and Latin America. In featuring the processes of immigration and migration, this review highlights the major neo-classical theories related to dependency, world systems, and articulation and the transnational theories related to diaspora, border, and feminist perspectives. Anthropologists have made significant contributions to the interdisciplinary field of migration studies. The review concludes with implications for understanding human behavior and the social environment within the context of immigration and migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current research examined the potential benefit of context reinstatement on the cross-race effect in lineup identification. Participants viewed a series of own- and other-race faces and subsequently attempted identification of these faces from target-present and target-absent lineups. The traditional cross-race effect was found on measures of discrimination accuracy and response bias; however, discrimination accuracy across own- and other-race faces was shown to interact with context reinstatement such that only own-race faces benefited from the provision of contextual information. This finding is discussed in light of encoding-based theories of the cross-race effect, and with regard to the theoretical and practical limitations of mitigating the phenomenon at the time of identification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Dutch integration policy, ethnic concentration is assumed to have negative effects on the integration of ethnic minorities, the most important cause being the lack of contact with native Dutch. Although research on concentration effects has increased, empirical evidence to support this isolation thesis is still insufficient. This paper contributes by testing the assumption that ethnic concentration hinders the existence of ethnic bridges - i.e. the informal ties between ethnic minorities and native Dutch. Moreover, it checks for different effects for deprived and non-deprived households. Findings indicate that one's neighbourhood plays a significant role in social inclusion into Dutch society and that this effect is stronger for the non-deprived. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on issues and topics related to mediated citizenship in the context of modern society. Citizenship itself has always been a nebulous and contested concept. Several factors, including mass media, play a role in the construction and practice of citizenship in contemporary societies.

A new citizenship policy in the Netherlands is intended to provide ethnic minority newcomers with self-management competencies for their daily lives, further education and employment. The advocates of the compulsory language training that is the main ingredient of this policy argue that it will foster newcomers' chances of getting jobs, accessing education and being incorporated into the mainstream of Dutch society. According to the Scientific Council for Government Policy, no country in Europe has gone as far as the Netherlands in terms of its citizenship policy. In this paper, we evaluate the backgrounds and the consequences of this policy, and we take a critical look at the attempt to present command of the Dutch language as the main road to integration for ethnic minority newcomers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]