Multicultural societies and migration

Human Rights and Substantive Equality in the Adjudication of Ethnic Practices

“…135 Much of the multiculturalist discourse has consisted in challenging the cultural neutrality of the state, both as a reality and as an ideal. 136 Applying this line of thinking to the headscarf debate, multicultural theorists would denounce the arbitrary distinction between conspicuous and non-conspicuous symbols, which shields taken-for-granted dominant cultures from neutrality requirements, and the privilege enjoyed by secular over religious identities. Moreover, they would stress that prevailing dress codes reflect idiosyncratic conventions, be they European, national, modern, urban or middle-class, that do not have any claim of universal validity.…”

The inclusion of non-Western artistic traditions in cultural policy: Contrasting social justice and public diplomacy approaches

“…Thirdly, they have benefited from considerable political support: Canada is widely regarded as a leader in the protection of cultural rights (Kymlicka 2015;Bosset, Gamper & Öhlinger 2013), whereas Spain pioneered the first UN-led initiative in the area of arts-based international cooperation (more on this below). The fact that both states host significant numbers of non-European immigrants (OECD 2016: 246, 302) 2 and that Canada's have been settled for a much longer period also offers an opportunity to explore the interplay between integration processes and policy dynamics.…”