Assimilation Essay ⋆ Political Science Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

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Assimilation is the name of a process in which cultural minorities change their practices, values, or behavior in order to become more like members of the majority or dominant group among which they live. Assimilation may occur in the absence of state intervention, as the result of choices made by individual members of minority groups (albeit in a context where there are often benefits that accompany assimilation and that provide incentives to make that choice), or it may be a product of state policies that are specifically designed to bring it about; for example, when a state forbids the speaking of a minority language in schools.

Assimilationist policies are often distinguished from integrationist policies or practices. Sometimes assimilation is regarded as a process in which minority cultural groups abandon all of their distinctive values and practices, in effect relinquishing their particular identities, while integration involves members of these groups merely giving up some of their particular values and practices to become more like members of the dominant group. Alternatively, integration may be viewed as a two-way process that, unlike assimilation, requires change on both sides. Whereas assimilation requires minority cultural groups to change their values, practices, or behaviors to fit in with those of the dominant group, integration involves a process of mutual adjustment. An integrated society is in turn often contrasted with one in which different cultural groups lead parallel lives in the same society. So understood, integration requires members of different groups to come into meaningful contact with each other, to lead more of their lives together. This is sometimes an effort to promote community cohesion and greater trust between groups.

A powerful argument in favor of assimilationist policies is that such policies may be required to foster a single, shared culture, and that a single, shared culture is either necessary for, or at least conducive to, the stability of a state. Theorists of nationalism have sometimes appealed to this idea to justify policies that are designed to promote a shared national identity among citizens and even to restrict immigration to prevent that identity from being eroded. Those on the left of the political spectrum also may have reason to value a shared national identity, for it has been argued that such an identity is important to secure widespread support for redistribution on grounds of social justice.

Alternatively, a powerful argument against assimilationist policies is that they are either oppressive or counterproductive. Political theorist Iris Young (1990), for example, claims that assimilated groups suffer from cultural imperialism. When a policy of assimilation is pursued, the dominant cultural group will see themselves as objectively superior and cultural minorities will internalize a sense of inferiority. This argument may not always be successful, however. Assimilationist policies can be directed toward practices that are themselves oppressive, such as forced marriage and female genital mutilation. A policy of assimilation, however, need not be premised or implemented on the idea that the dominant culture is superior, and may be pursued through a range of initiatives that are not clearly oppressive. Examples include requiring immigrants to learn the language in which public affairs are conducted or requiring that state schools focus on the history, geography, and literature of the dominant group.

Bibliography:

Modood,T. Multiculturalism: A Civic Idea. Cambridge, U.K.: Polity Press, 2007.
Young, Iris. Justice and the Politics of Difference. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1990.