Multiculturalism as Governmentality in Britain

TY - CONF

T1 - Multiculturalism as Governmentality in Britain

AU - Vinding, Niels Valdemar

PY - 2009

Y1 - 2009

N2 - Britain has been a multicultural nation for the better part of the past century, but multiculturalism has only manifested itself as a political phenomenon roughly since the Rushdie affair. Multiculturalism did not emerge as a proactive political initiative, but became a strategy for solving the problems ushered in by the multicultural society. Specifically, the challenges arose following the recent history immigration and emerged as discrimination, hate speech, reaffirmed religious identities, terrorism and radicalism. These challenges and politics of British multiculturalism have been studied first most by Joppke (1998, 1999), Modood (1994, 2005) and Parekh (2000, 2006, 2008), and in light of their research, this paper attempts to understand the British multiculturalism as an expression of governmentality applying the theories of Michel Foucault and others (Dean 1999, Rose & Miller 1992) on the art of government. From this ambition follows a series of provisional questions. Can multiculturalism be conceptualised as the raison d'État? Are the ideas of 'differentiated citizenship' (Kymlicka 1995) or 'intercultural evaluation' (Parekh 2000) so integral to the British society that they can be understood as the guiding principles of the modern British state? Is a multicultural politics, as applied by the British government, the better strategy for solving the problems and reaffirming its position as the immediately apparent governing institution of society?

AB - Britain has been a multicultural nation for the better part of the past century, but multiculturalism has only manifested itself as a political phenomenon roughly since the Rushdie affair. Multiculturalism did not emerge as a proactive political initiative, but became a strategy for solving the problems ushered in by the multicultural society. Specifically, the challenges arose following the recent history immigration and emerged as discrimination, hate speech, reaffirmed religious identities, terrorism and radicalism. These challenges and politics of British multiculturalism have been studied first most by Joppke (1998, 1999), Modood (1994, 2005) and Parekh (2000, 2006, 2008), and in light of their research, this paper attempts to understand the British multiculturalism as an expression of governmentality applying the theories of Michel Foucault and others (Dean 1999, Rose & Miller 1992) on the art of government. From this ambition follows a series of provisional questions. Can multiculturalism be conceptualised as the raison d'État? Are the ideas of 'differentiated citizenship' (Kymlicka 1995) or 'intercultural evaluation' (Parekh 2000) so integral to the British society that they can be understood as the guiding principles of the modern British state? Is a multicultural politics, as applied by the British government, the better strategy for solving the problems and reaffirming its position as the immediately apparent governing institution of society?

M3 - Paper

T2 - The Politics of Social Cohesion

Y2 - 9 September 2009 through 12 September 2009

ER -