Multiculturalism, Mauritian Style

Abstract

Multiculturalism is on the retreat in many Western countries. As an ideology, it is criticized for failing to engender national belonging and social cohesion and thereby to encourage groups of citizens to have parallel lives. In this article, we present the case of Mauritius that is often viewed as a successful plural society. We discuss the conditions that are conducive to a working multiculturalism in Mauritius as well as the challenges. We use empirical findings from our relatively large-scale survey research among adolescents from the three main ethnic groups (i.e., Hindus, Creoles, Muslims). The metaphorical representation of the nation as a rainbow or fruit salad means that cultural diversity forms part of the national self-image, but within a secular state where individual rights prevail. Our findings show that all participants reported strong and compatible national, ethnic, and religious group identifications and that dual identity was the most chosen identity option. Furthermore, intergroup relations tended to be positive but there was a strong preference for ethnic endogamy. Additionally, there were social psychological processes that work against harmonious intergroup relations. The article concludes by discussing what can be learned from Mauritian style multiculturalism.

Further Conceptualizing Ethnic and Racial Identity Research: The Social Identity Approach and Its Dynamic Model

“…For example, for young British Pakistani (Jacobson, 1998) and Moroccan Dutch (Verkuyten, Thijs, & Stevens, 2012), Islam has become a more meaningful source of social identity than ethnicity. In countries such as Israel, Poland, Bulgaria, Malaysia, and Mauritius there can be such a close connection between ethnicity and religion that a distinction is almost impossible to make (Dimitrova, 2014;Fleischmann, 2011;Ng Tseung Wong & Verkuyten, 2015). Yet, developmental research on ERI has mostly ignored religious identity, which means that there is a lack of theorizing for understanding identity development in countries and contexts where religion is pivotal for minority youth, as well as a lack of attention for the role of religion in relation to ERI in the United States context (but see Kiang, Yip, & Fuligni, 2008;Lopez, Huynh, & Fuligni, 2011).…”

“…However, increasing cultural diversity and rapid cultural changes often imply that groups are diverse and ambiguously defined. In contrast, in, for example, deeply divided societies, such as Israel and Northern Ireland, or societies with strong ethnic group boundaries, such as Malaysia and Mauritius, children learn from very early on about the relevant group distinctions, making processes of self-stereotyping more likely at a younger age (Bar-Tal & Teichmann, 2005;Ng Tseung Wong & Verkuyten, 2015).…”

Hybrid and Alternating Identity Styles as Strategies for Managing Multicultural Identities

“…Underpinned by globalization, cultural diversity is on the rise in many countries with cities such as New York, Singapore, and Auckland now considered “super-diverse” (International Organization for Migration, 2015; Vertovec, 2007). This unprecedented flux of movement of culturally diverse individuals affects societies, prompting increasing research on the realities of multiculturalism (e.g., Berry, 2013; Ng Tseung-Wong & Verkuyten, 2015; Noor & Leong, 2013; Sibley & Ward, 2013; Verkuyten, 2006), the implications of diversity ideologies (e.g., Rattan & Ambady, 2013; Rosenthal & Levy, 2010), and, importantly, individuals’ construals of their multiple social identities (e.g., Benet-Martínez & Haritatos, 2005; Chu, White, & Verrilli, 2017; West, Zhang, Yampolsky, & Sasaki, 2017). Indeed, in today’s world, there has never been a more pressing need to understand how, when, and why individuals acculturate and how they negotiate their everyday experiences in multicultural environments.…”

Forms of Blended Bicultural Identity: Identity Conflict and Harmony in Culturally Diverse Mauritius

“…All ethnocultural groups are considered indispensable in the composition of the nation ("rainbow nation," see also Sidanius et al, 2019) and the country has been described as a strong candidate for "truly successful polyethnic societies" (Eriksen, 2004, p. 79). Nevertheless, individuals can experience their national and ethnocultural belonging as challenging and intergroup tensions are not absent (Eriksen, 1998;Ng Tseung-Wong & Verkuyten, 2015b). As such, Mauritius forms a unique context for examining whether there are distinct subgroups of individuals regarding their feelings of harmony/conflict in their bicultural self-understanding, and whether these different groups have different evaluations of their ethnocultural group membership, different feelings toward ethnocultural outgroups, and different beliefs about plural Mauritian society.…”