29/01/16

Kwen Gee Lian, INTRODUCTION TO MULTICULTURALISM, INTEGRATION AND THE POLITICS OF IDENTITY



[Construction site (Orchard Road, Singapore 2015). Foto Rb]


PP. 1-10 of Multiculturalism, Integration and the Politics of Identity, ed. Kwen Gee Lian, Brunei Darussalam University, Institute of Asian Studies e Singapore, Springer, 2016


Lian mette in rilievo come il concetto di multiculturalismo nel senso liberale sia nato in Canada e in Australia negli anni Settanta, incentrandosi intorno a questioni relative a “minority rights, human rights, and liberal democratic values” (p. 1). In tal senso è stato applicato anche in Asia, dove però le società multiculturali esistono da più tempo (“multiculturalism is historically embedded in these societies”, p. 4) e in cui, sulla scorta di Hefner, il multiculturalismo coincide col pluralismo e con la società civile. Occorre però non confondere i due termini:

“Pluralism requires voluntary group membership, multiple affiliations, and reciprocal recognition. Indeed a plural society is one in which differences are accepted and conflict is resolved through compromise and reconciliation. These conditions do not exist in multicultural politics, as it revolves around involuntary and mutually exclusive statuses and tends to render recognition a one-sided act by the majority society alone” (p. 2).

Lian cita Parekh per spiegare che le società multiculturali constano di culture diverse con visioni del mondo differenziate. Nel caso specifico di Singapore, tuttavia, come afferma Chua, si può privilegiare la comunità, o gruppo, per fondare una concezione multiculturale della politica:

“Multiculturalism is not incompatible with the communitarian polity. The challenge for the communitarian state, in contrast to the liberal state, is not mediating between the rights of individuals and the claims of collectives but in reconciling the conflicting demands multiple membership within the hierarchy of communities may impose on the individual” (p. 3).

Un altro connotato della questione è la differenza tra il multiculturalismo europeo, legato all’immigrazione, e quello di società come il Canada e l’Australia, in cui il multiculturalismo rappresenta un’ideologia identitaria complessiva.  

Relativamente a Singapore, “multicultural governance, ubiquitously touted as multiracialism by the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP), has functioned as a pillar for Singapore’s nation-building project since independence in 1965” (p. 5). 

Occorre però distinguere tra versioni diverse e coesistenti del multiculturalismo singaporiano: quella proposta dallo stato, quella circolante nella sfera pubblica e quella privata e quotidiana dei cittadini: “The congruence between the official articulation of multiculturalism as nation building, as everyday reality, and as the basis of effective governance, makes Singapore unique as a model for the practice of multiculturalism” (p. 5).


[Roberto Bertoni]