Sorry, I know this was ages ago, but I just spotted it.
I think the thorny issue of multiculturalism and how and why it should be unpicked, what should be kept and what discarded, is at the heart of the debate for most European dominated countries (sorry, clumsy term but I hope you can see why that covers Europe and Australia and New Zealand)
Actually, in my opinion, that's not at the heart of the debate in NZ at all. All too often here, multiculturalism is used as an excuse to ignore the rights and issues around Maori (the indigenous ethnic group in Aotearoa, if anyone reading this didn't know). Multiculturalism has a vexed contestation, seeing as how it is used as a weapon. It would possibly be more accurate to speak of biculturalism first, followed by the unpacking of multicultural diversity amongst Pakeha and other ethnic groups.
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Date: 2008-03-04 08:43 am (UTC)I think the thorny issue of multiculturalism and how and why it should be unpicked, what should be kept and what discarded, is at the heart of the debate for most European dominated countries (sorry, clumsy term but I hope you can see why that covers Europe and Australia and New Zealand)
Actually, in my opinion, that's not at the heart of the debate in NZ at all. All too often here, multiculturalism is used as an excuse to ignore the rights and issues around Maori (the indigenous ethnic group in Aotearoa, if anyone reading this didn't know). Multiculturalism has a vexed contestation, seeing as how it is used as a weapon. It would possibly be more accurate to speak of biculturalism first, followed by the unpacking of multicultural diversity amongst Pakeha and other ethnic groups.