ABSTRACT
The problem is that Western multiculturalism has generally been based on the separation of the cultural from the social. Culture has been seen as a sphere of plurality and of division. Therefore, it must be managed. In effect, multiculturalism was a means of managing cultural diversity arising from large-scale immigration into Western societies that came in the wake of decolonization and waves of immigrant workers. European multiculturalism, as it emerged in the 1960s and 1970s, was essentially an extension of liberal tolerance rather than a participation of immigrants in citizenship. It was based on the assumption that there was a dominant cultural identity in the society; the incoming ethnic groups had to adjust to this dominant cultural identity, but certain concessions could be made for them. Multiculturalism was never intended to be a model for bringing about wider change in society. In this sense, multiculturalism was merely the management of cultural diversity within the established structures. Like secularism in an earlier period of modernity, which protected religion by giving it a sheltered space outside the public domain, multiculturalism was a means of protecting the established society from the new cultural communities. But today it is a different matter, for after several decades and generational shifts, diversity has penetrated the cultural identity of the whole society. Integration today is becoming increasingly based on the individual, rather than on the community or group. Such a development, in fact, allows for more social integration than is often thought.1
