Cultural encounters in multi-cultured societies : towards multicultural education? [Editorial]

Abstract

Pluralist societies are constituted of multiple groups that differ from each other in their ethnic, race, gender, culture and social class composition. In this context, various commentators have referred to 'multiculturalism' and approached it from several angles, attributing various meanings and definitions to the term. Some refer to the demographic multi-cultured or pluralist aspect (Lev Ari and Laron, 2014). Other researchers (Sarup1986; Zolberg 1996) address structural power relations within and between cultural groups, while others tackle issues of economic distribution and cultural affirmation. However, the concept of 'multiculturalism' has a more common meaning which is ideological, namely, the acknowledgment of the existing differences between subgroups in a given society, and which formally address and accept them as legitimate (Ben-Rafael 2008; Body 1996). Most contemporary societies are multicultural to one extent or another and are populated by different socio-cultural groups. This led to the development of the concept of multiculturalism in Western societies and the importance assigned to cultural specificity and cultural groups (Ben-Rafael and Peres 2005).