p.

95-96

Multiculturalism

The word multiculturalism is used in different ways. It is a phenomenon of social life

that consists in the coexistence of many cultures within one society. This word is also
used in philosophy. It is argued that the presence of many cultures in a society is the
natural state of social life and it should treat this issue in an appropriate manner.

From the point of view of multiculturalism, an extreme and deviation from the norm is
an attempt to establish one single culture that is unquestioningly embraced by the
whole society in public life. This often happens in totalitarian societies.

Meanwhile, at the beginning of the second decade of the twenty-first century, in

some European countries, the role of far-right and nationalist parties opposed to
Muslim immigration and globalization began to grow. This creates an atmosphere that
can provoke fanatics into violence. Politically right-wing parties are appeal to the
nationalistic leanings of their fellow citizens. They bring criticism of immigrants into
the political arena. Nationalist forces also oppose the resettlement of Gypsies from
countries such as Romania to prosperous EU countries. At the same time, the leaders of
leading Western countries recognize that the policy of multiculturalism is not working
as they would like.

The British Prime Minister, for example, has stated that multiculturalism policies
have contributed to the spread of immigrant extremism in the United Kingdom.

Multiculturalism is regarded as the reverse of globalism. Globalism makes all the

cultures abolishes, while multiculturalism allegedly tries to preserve them. It is
believed that many people feel that they are already "culturally rootless " and that they
are being deprived of their cultural identity."

It turns out that the problem of globalization is closely related to the problem of
multiculturalism. The increasing the rate of globalization has led to the emergence of an
anti-globalization political movement in the world that political movement which is
directed against globalization. Anti-globalizationists accuse globalization of increasing
inequality between the rich and the poor and of leading to deterioration of the
environment.

Along with the globalization of economies and trade, culture is also being imported and
exported. This leads to the fact that local traditions and cultural values can disappear.
This process is also sometimes referred to as Americanization or «McDonaldization».