Multiculturalism and National Identity

Multiculturalism is the philosophy that every culture is morally valid and no culture
has the right to impose its values on another. It came as an effect of global changes that
encouraged, or, in some cases, forced, emigration and immigration. Since the emergence of
this phenomenon, the opinions regarding it reached radical extremes, while concepts such as
tolerance, acceptance, and readjustment come to contrast discrimination, racism, xenophobia.
Multiculturalism can be used both in sociology and in political philosophy. In
sociology, it refers to the result of migrations, either on larger or smaller scale, not implying
the cultural consequences. As a political philosophy, multiculturalism involves ideologies
that vary widely, ranging from advocacy of equal respect to the various cultures, to policies
of promoting cultural diversity, to policies in which people of different ethnic and religious
groups are addressed by the authorities as defined by the group to which they belong.
National identity refers to the sense of belonging to one state or one nation. It is the
sense of a nation as a cohesive whole, as represented by distinctive traditions, culture,
language and politics. National identity may refer to the subjective feeling one shares with a
group of people about a nation, regardless of one's legal citizenship status. National identity
is viewed in psychological terms as "an awareness of difference", a "feeling and recognition
of 'we' and 'they'". The expression of one's national identity seen in a positive light is
patriotism which is characterized by national pride and positive emotion of love for one's
country. The extreme expression of national identity is chauvinism, which refers to the firm
belief in the country's superiority and extreme loyalty toward one's country. Nationalism is
deeply related to nations, being the social phenomenon that refers to the unique relation
between individuals and their homeland. Citizens identify with their nation through the
commonalities they share (history, values, myths, identity, language, customs etc). A
central aspect of nationalism is that the individuals' identity is being formulated through their
membership to their society.
The desire of being able to identify with something comes from the need of every
individual and every group to relate, unite, and be part of a whole, to form a conception of
themselves and have a clear idea of who they are and what makes them different from others.
This need of acknowledging the differences between people of different nations gave birth to
the tendency of imposing some values at the expense of others, parting from the idea that
they are more logical, comfortable, or normal, or that they might have a better influence in
the development of that society. But what seems normal to a group might be totally opposed
to anothers notion of normal, which leads to the concept of moral relativism, stating that
nothing is absolutely right or wrong.
The concepts of National Identity and Multiculturalism dont always go hand in hand.
Some people see multiculturalism as a threat to their national identity, stating that through
the attempt of assimilating ethnic groups, many customs, traditions, and beliefs could be
altered, if not completely lost in the process. There is a mix of identities that occurs in this
kind of situations, especially when the number of people belonging to a certain ethnic group
in a foreign country rises, and the mistakes in the attempts of cohabitation are done by both
sides. On a political and administrative level, the minorities might not only want to have
equal rights, which, after all, is a democratic approach, but might go to such requests as
priority to some services; on the other hand, the locals might display territoriality or an
instinct of property, as well as the need to be put first and to have a more important say in
any matter regarding their own country. On the immigrants' side, They do have the right to
ask for certain claims from the government and even modifications within the polices of the
governmental institutions so as to help them better integrate in the society but it is necessary
for them to fulfill their obligations as citizens, being the only way they can secure that their
rights will be met by the state.
The key to avoid conflict would be coming to a common civil identity. The civil
society does play a role in bringing together different communities together in shared
activities and interests to increase their sense of having a civic common identity which
transcends the ethnic and national differences, while everyone is still retaining its own
national identity and culture.
Even if, in the past, multicultural societies have tended to only flourish under imperial
rule, it seems like the 21st century is a period of unprecedented ethnic and religious mix, fact
that urges social reform in order to avoid controversy and keep standing the important role of
freedom.