Why Multiculturalism is Not Enough | Michael Bond

More on multiculturalism and integration, and how the depth of personal relationships can make a difference:

How much social integration is necessary to immunize diverse communities against inter-group conflict and mistrust? One answer comes from the political scientist Ashutosh Varshney, who has studied why unrest between different religious and ethnic groups in India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Malaysia is more prevalent in some places than in others.

Varshney has found that a crucial condition for ethnic harmony is intercommunal engagement at a deep level. It is not enough for two groups merely to know each other as neighbours. They should be mixing in business associations, sports clubs, trade unions, political parties, community organizations, student unions and so on.

This kind of grassroots integration acts as a constraint on the polarizing strategies of leaders who are often all too keen to exploit differences for political gain. It gives communities an incentive to prevent sparks from becoming fires. In stable, mixed societies, engagement is built into the civic structure.

Why Multiculturalism is Not Enough | Michael Bond.