Diversity and Homogeneity in a “Multicultural Society” : A Critique of the Pervasive Picture of Collective Identities

Publication Type:

paper-conference

Date Issued:

2009

Authors:

Magnus Nilsson

Publisher:

International Migration & Ethnic Relations Research Unit at the Univeristy of Bergen

Language:

eng

In this paper I argue that the hegemonic Swedish discourse about the so-called multicultural society is centred on an opposition between a culturally homogenous past and a present, which, because of migration, has become culturally diverse. My aim is to analyze (drawing on Walter Benn Michaels’ and Nancy Fraser’s analyses of the epoch of “posthistoricism” and “the postsocialist condition” respectively) how diversity and homogeneity are conceptualized within this discourse, and to propose an alternative way of understanding these phenomena. My argument is that both societal homogeneity and diversity must be understood from a “transformative” perspective on collective identities. I also want to argue that such a perspective must supersede the deconstructivist approach associated with poststructuralism. As an alternative I propose Toril Moi’s critique of “the pervasive picture” of identities. My main examples will come from literary criticism of popular fiction thematizing the so-called multicultural society, but these examples will be considered metonymic for the hegemonic discourse about multiculturalism.