Danish Anti-multiculturalism? The Significance of the Political Framing of Diversity

Abstract

In this chapter I reflect on the possible meaning and significance of multiculturalism in relation to developments in Denmark.1 This should immediately be qualified in a number of ways. First, I am more concerned with anti-multiculturalism than with multiculturalism, since the Danish state has never adopted an official multiculturalism policy and criticism of multiculturalism has been dominant in public discourse for more than a decade. Second, I will draw attention both to the quite different possible meanings of multiculturalism and to the different ways in which it might find expression and the levels at which this might happen. My point is that it makes little sense to assume that there is one singular assessment about what multiculturalism means in Denmark (or any other country). Third, an important focus of the chapter will be the apparent change in the official Danish attitude towards multiculturalism heralded by the new centre-left government that came into power in late 2011, relative to the former centre-right government, which had been in office for three consecutive terms since 2001. Finally, I will sketch some theoretical considerations which can explain why these conceptual distinctions and empirical developments are normatively significant. In so doing I will consider what is really at stake in debates about multiculturalism in a country such as Denmark, suggesting that multiculturalism controversies are not only, or primarily, about the actual policies adopted but concern the way in which policies are framed, the terms in which they are debated and the ‘symbolic meaning’ with which they are thereby associated.KeywordsImmigration PolicyIntegration PolicySymbolic MeaningFree SchoolDanish SocietyThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.