Melting Pot or Cultural Pluralism ? Changing views on American ethnicity

1990 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas J. Archdeacon
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Pluralism ◽  
Melting Pot ◽  
American Ethnicity

scholarly journals Book Review: American Political Culture: An Encyclopedia

2015 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 174
Author(s):  
Carla Wilson Buss
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Political Culture ◽  
Cultural Pluralism ◽  
Reliable Information ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Melting Pot ◽  
American Political Culture ◽  
Israel Zangwill

Anyone seeking reliable information on American political life since the 1970s will be pleased with Michael Shally-Jensen’s work, American Political Culture. This three-volume set covers topics from abortion to Israel Zangwill, the nineteenth-century author who coined the phrase “melting pot” and who appears in the entry for “Cultural Pluralism.”

Eccezionalismo, identitŕ nazionale e interdipendenza : nuove sintesi italiane sulla storia degli Stati Uniti d'America

2009 ◽  
pp. 177-190
Author(s):  
Daniele Fiorentino
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Key Words ◽  
American Exceptionalism ◽  
Manifest Destiny ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cultural Pluralism ◽  
American Identity ◽  
Melting Pot ◽  
American Imperialism ◽  
Dominant Society

- The essay examines some central concepts of U.S. history and culture through the analysis of three volumes published in Italy in 2008. The author uses the concept of American Exceptionalism in order to provide a closer reading of the books and a better understanding of the image of the United States offered today, as well as the place of U.S. history in Italy. Cultural Pluralism is an important framework in the historical and historiographical narratives. Touching upon other central ideals of American identity such as Manifest Destiny, the Frontier, and Internationalism, this essay deals with the issue of Imperialism and the reactions against it in the 19th and 20th centuries. Through the question of immigration, reference is made to multiculturalism and the processes that led toward a progressive integration of different minorities on the basis of models proposed by the dominant society. The essay thus recapitulates some of the most widespread stereotypes concerning ethnic groups and the construction of a new model of Cultural Pluralism.Key words: U.S. history, exceptionalism, American imperialism, immigration, cultural pluralism, Melting PotParole chiave: storia degli Stati Uniti, eccezionalismo, imperialismo americano, immigrazione, pluralismo culturale, melting pot

Ethnicity in Contemporary America

1981 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 325-339
Author(s):  
James H. Dormon
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Group ◽  
American Culture ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Ethnic Studies ◽  
Social Process ◽  
Cultural Pluralism ◽  
Melting Pot ◽  
American Society ◽  
Age Of Aquarius

It is just under a decade since the historian Theodore Hershberg, a close student of American minority groups and a founder of the then new Journal of Ethnic Studies, announced the demise of the “Age of Aquarius,” pronouncing at the same time its displacement by the “Age of Ethnicity.” In so proclaiming he also, figuratively at least, announced the passing of one of the oldest of American ideals: the notion of the “Melting Pot,” that social process by which the ethnic elements of American society would all be boiled down into a national cultural amalgam by way of their “Americanization.” In announcing the advent of the Age of Ethnicity, Hershberg gave tacit recognition to the fact that the melting pot model of ethnic group accommodation to American culture had now been pre-empted, officially and normatively, by the notion of “cultural pluralism.” There was no further need for amalgamation at all: each group was now to proceed to celebrate its origins, its distinct culture, and its fellowship in any way it pleased, as one of its fundamental American “rights.”On reflection, it may seem that in some respects the timing of the Hershberg prophesy is odd, even perverse. Many specialists were even then about the business of eliminating ethnicity altogether as a major factor in American culture, pronouncing the vestigial ethnic elements in US society virtually “assimilated.”

Towards a New Sociolinguistics

2019 ◽  
pp. 86-108
Author(s):  
J.P.S. Uberoi ◽  
Patricia Uberoi
Keyword(s):  
Language Planning ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Cultural Pluralism ◽  
Major Theme ◽  
Joint Paper ◽  
Melting Pot ◽  
Untimely Death

This is a joint paper with Professor Patricia Uberoi that was originally written as a tribute to Prabodh B. Pandit following his untimely death. It discusses the idea of India as a sociolinguistic area, the alternative Western methods that have been applied to its study, that is, melting pot or apartheid. A major theme is the question of bilingualism, multilingualism and dialects within the Indian experiment of functional multilingualism or unity in variety. Included here are subjects such as standard and dialectical forms in language, the implications of this for language planning in India, and the structure of cultural pluralism. It ends with the outline of a new theoretical framework for Indian sociolinguistics.

Cultural pluralism

2015 ◽  
Vol 41 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 347-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard J. Bernstein
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
William James ◽  
Democratic Society ◽  
Cultural Pluralism ◽  
Melting Pot ◽  
James I ◽  
Global Context ◽  
Randolph Bourne ◽  
Alain Locke ◽  
Horace Kallen

The expression ‘cultural pluralism’ was popularized by Horace Kallen, a student of William James. I explore the meaning of pluralism in the context of the American pragmatic tradition with emphasis on the meaning of pluralism for William James. Kallen sought to characterize cultural pluralism in contrast with the idea of America as a ‘melting-pot’. I also examine the contributions of Randolph Bourne and the African-American philosopher Alain Locke to the discussion of cultural pluralism. I conclude by indicating that the idea of a democratic society that respects and is enriched by differences is highly relevant to contemporary discussions of cultural pluralism in a global context.

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