53. Multiculturalism

This chapter provides an overview of multicultural policies in five countries that exemplify the diversity of approaches states have taken to engage with their culturally diverse populations. While in all cases, multiculturalism entails recognition of all cultural groups and making accommodations for minority groups, the cases of India, Singapore, Canada, Australia and Britain demonstrate how multicultural policies reflect local histories and exigencies. The comparative overview also challenges the conventional wisdom that multiculturalism has exclusively Western origins. In fact, the Indian and Singaporean cases show that in some parts of Asia, multiculturalism may be seen as deeper and more thorough than in the West, particularly in relation to affirmative action programmes for minority groups.