Reflections on the Future of Multicultural Inclusion in the Nordic Countries

Abstract

Multiculturalism, it needs to be stressed, is a mode of inclusion that in modern liberal democracies is predicated on the core values of those societies, not the least of which is a respect for the integrity of the individual. It is not a means for promoting group self-segregation, for advancing an ‘anything goes’ sort of cultural relativism or for hardening group boundaries. Multiculturalism differs from assimilation, at its most basic level, insofar as it is predicated on the moral assertion that societal solidarity can be achieved and simultaneously difference can be valorized (Gressgård 2012; Modood 2007; Kivisto 2002; Kymlicka 1995). Critics of multiculturalism who opt for the assimilative alternative are suspicious of this value commitment, contending instead that societal solidarity calls for the overcoming of difference. Advocates of assimilation see difference as a threat to solidarity at the national level, while multiculturalism’s spokespersons contend that difference and solidarity need not be antithetical but, on the contrary, can be mutually constitutive. The debates between proponents and critics have been going on for over a quarter of a century at both the philosophical/theoretical and policy levels, as well as in the realm of public opinion.