Cultural diversity policies in Europe: Between integration and security

Abstract

One of the great challenges of our time must now surely be to ensure that our rich cultural diversity makes us more secure -not less'. With these words, United Nations (UN) secretary-general Ban Ki-moon (2008) drew a clear connection between issues of cultural diversity and international security. Ban Ki-moon spoke in a peculiar context framed by the 11 September 2001 (9/11) attacks against the United States and the Madrid and London bombings of 2004 and 2005, all attributed to Islamist terrorist groups. In 2005, against the prospects of a 'clash of civilizations', the UN had implemented an 'Alliance of Civilizations' (UNAOC, 2006) with the co-sponsorship of the Spanish and Turkish prime ministers in the hope of building 'bridges between societies' and appeasing conflicts 'threatening international stability' (p. 3).Ban Ki-moon's statement pointed to an understudied dimension of 'cultural diversity' policies. Indeed, such policies are also meant to 'build bridges' between and within societies with a view to easing tensions that threaten international and national security. Within this framework, the media are seen both as an obstacle to cultural diversity policies and as a major tool at the latter's disposal. According to the UNAOC ( 2006), the media are forces that shape 'stereotypes and misrepresentations', fuelling antagonisms between communities and raising security problems, but also instruments able to 'reduce cross cultural tensions and to build bridges between [these] communities ' (pp. 25, 31).Cultural diversity policies are infused with a rhetoric that makes it difficult to critically explore their nature: After all, how could one be against diversity? Yet, as this special

Images of Immigrants and Refugees

“…Along with this increasing attention to the migration issue, we also note a growing polarization of public opinion on minority groups. Although news media are considered to be an important actor in influencing public opinion and building bridges within inter-ethnic societies (Mattelart & d'Haenens, 2014;, news media are fairly negative and fall back on terminology of 'us' versus 'them', which can be seen as a mild form of cultural racism (Malik, 2014). In this study, we selected two groups (immigrants and refugees) to study the influence of Belgian and Swedish news media consumption and trust in these media on public opinion for the two groups in question.…”

“…Following social identity theory, to stimulate integration it is crucial to embrace the different identities within multicultural society instead of emphasizing the differences between 'us' and 'them' (Hogg, 2016). Consequently, European media policy stipulates that media build bridges within societies and between subpopulations to ease tensions by promoting inter-ethnic understanding rather than using stereotypes and misrepresentations (Campion, 2005;Mattelart & d'Haenens, 2014). However, previous research on the representation of refugees and immigrants in news media has established that these minority groups are often problematized.…”

Determinants of degree of integration of Turkish diaspora in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany

“…The uneven integration of ethnic minorities into social and economic life across Europe is an increasingly important issue at a time when some European countries have been retreating from multiculturalism as their core public integration policy (Mattelart & d'Haenens, 2014). Crul and Schneider (2010) argue that mobility pathways, cultural participation, and feelings of belonging are heavily dependent on the societal contexts at the receiving end, both nationally and locally.…”

We Hate to Quote Stanley Fish, But: “There’s No Such Thing as Free Speech, and It’s a Good Thing, Too.” Or is it?

“…The media are expected at once to inform and represent new arrivals, right the wrongs of stereotypes, encourage identification with Europe, and function as efficient and effective industries. For their part, migrants are dual targets: of the state, to ensure fealty; and of commerce, to ensure consumption (Mattelart and d'Haenens 2014).…”