Social and Philosophical Aspects of the Genesis of the Discourse of Multiculturalism

Definitions of multiculturalism are inconsistent and often contradictory, but common to its definitions is the demographic observation of the existence of several cultures in most societies. Multiculturalism as a theoretical concept is one of the most controversial discourses of our time, formed because of particular historical circumstances. The first mention of the concept under study tended to a cosmopolitan interpreta- tion, meaning mixing nationalities and the expansion of identities. Later, the term “multiculturalism” was understood as a variety of languages and cultures. Later, this term was used to describe the demographic fact of megacities inhabited by people of different cultural and ethnic origins. The principal purpose of the article is to highlight the social and philosophical aspects of the genesis of the discourse of multicultural- ism. The article uses the methods of formal-logical, systemic, structural and institutional analysis in order to highlight the social and philosophical aspects of multiculturalism.

Becoming Achaean in Italy

This chapter examines the Achaeans of southern Italy through case studies of two communities, Croton and Metapontion. It first examines the creation of Achaean ethnicity, which occurred not through a single shared process but rather through a series of conflicts between different Greek communities in Italy. Croton articulated its ethnic and polis identities in intertwining ways, through a series of foundation myths, coins, and a prominent cult of Hera, which worked together to claim ethnic origins both in the northern Peloponnese and from the Homeric Achaean heroes and, at the same time, to define a distinctively Crotoniate polis identity. Metapontion followed a similar process but with different materials and shaped by different circumstances, since its identity was defined partly by outsiders using it for their own purposes. The two cities did not form a single unified ethnic group but rather used Achaean ethnicity to articulate their identities separately.

The Word ‘Lebai’ and Its Ethnic Origins: Reassessing an Early Designation for Muslim Religious Officials in the Malay World

This article proposes a new etymon for the Malay word lebai (minor religious official/scholar), namely the Sino-Muslim term libai (禮拜, worship or religious service conducted in a mosque). Scholars have traditionally argued that lebai, a loanword introduced during the early stages of Islamization, derives from the Tamil leppai (or lebbai), likewise signifying (amongst other things) a minor religious official/scholar. On this basis, it has been argued that Tamil Muslims acted as Southeast Asia’s earliest Islamic officials. This article critically reassesses the evidence underlying this attribution. By tracing the earliest known Malay usage of lebai to Java –where it emerged alongside Sino-Muslim influences associated with Cirebon, Gresik and Demak– the etymon libai is proposed: since the Song dynasty (960-1279), Sino-Muslims have used the noun libai as a designate for religious affairs (particularly prayers) conducted in a mosque. This study suggests that lebai originates with this term, making it indicative of Sino-Muslim influence during Java’s Islamization.

Hungarian Jewish Stories of Origin: Samuel Kohn, the Khazar Connection and the Conquest of Hungary

At the turn of the twentieth century, the Khazar ancestry of European Jewry was a popular idea that particularly resonated throughout the discourse surrounding Hungary’s national origin and belonging. One of this discourse’s critical questions concerned whether Magyars and Jews were divided or united by ethnicity or religion: this paper demonstrates how Samuel Kohn (1841-1920), an important rabbi-scholar of the time, participated in this discussion by arguing for a common origin of the two groups. Kohn asserted that the Khazar ancestry of Hungarian Jews comprises both an ethnic and a religious connection. He considered two complementary questions: whether Hungarians and Jews possessed common ethnic origins and thereby belonged to the same race, and whether Magyars converted to Judaism during the Khazar era, i.e., the belief that Hungarians and Jews shared a common religion in the past. The contemporary political atmosphere magnified the significance of Kohn’s contribution.

Interfirm collaboration as a performance-enhancing survival strategy within the business models of ethnic minority-owned urban restaurants affected by COVID-19

PurposeGuided by resource-based theory, this investigation examines the extent to which knowledge sharing as part of interfirm collaboration serves as a performance-enhancing strategy; that is, in the context of assisting ethnic minority-owned urban restaurants to survive during a major market disruption. Specifically, the study features owner-managers' perceptions concerning the evolving environmental circumstances associated with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.Design/methodology/approachData collection took place among owner-managers of urban restaurants in a Canadian city during the COVID-19 pandemic in late 2020. This featured semi-structured interviews with restaurants' owner-managers originating from various ethnic origins together with secondary data where possible. Data analysis followed an adapted Gioia approach.FindingsExamples of interfirm collaboration include restaurants' owner-managers leveraging social capital and sharing knowledge about the effects of legislation and health guidelines on operating procedures, together with good and bad practices where firms have pivoted their business models via take-outs, patio dining and in-room dining. Irrespective of the strength of network ties (within and across ethnic communities), owner-managers were motivated to share information to facilitate their survival. Nevertheless, this study raises questions over the extent that certain decision-makers exhibit strategic flexibility responding to environmental conditions together with their respective ability to engage/retain customers plus service-oriented employees. In addition, a question is whether some owner-managers will continue to collaborate with their competitors after COVID-19 ends, and if so, with whom and the magnitude of activities. In particular, “trust” via psychological contracts and “complementary strategies” among partners across coethnic and different ethnic origins are key considerations.Originality/valueA body of knowledge exists addressing the notions of both interfirm collaboration and market disruptions in the broader cross-disciplinary literature. However, the interfirm collaborative practices of small firms with ethnic minority ownership that are otherwise rivals remain under-researched. More specifically, interfirm collaboration as a survival strategy for owner-managers during the market disruption arising from a crisis situation features as an original contribution.

Significant (Z|-4|) admixture signal with a source from ancient Wusun observed in contemporary Bulgarians.

We report the presence of significant Central Asian ancestry in both contemporary Bulgarians and in early medieval population from SMC (Saltovo Mayaky Culture). The existence of Chalcolithic Iran (Hajj Fruz) and Wusun related ancestral component in contemporary Bulgarians comes as a surprise and sheds light on both migration route and ethnic origins of ProtoBulgarians. We interpret these results as an evidence for a Central Asian connection for the tribes, constituting the population of SMC and Kubrats Old Great Bulgaria in Pontic steppe from 6th and 7th century AD. We identify Central Asian Wusun tribes as carriers of this component on the base from the results from f3 and D statistics. We suggest that Wusun related tribes must have played role (or might have even been the backbone) in what became known as the Hunnic migration to Europe during 3rd 5th century AD. Same population must have taken part in the formation of the SMC (Saltovo Mayaki Culture) and Great Old Bulgarian during 6th 9th century AD in Pontic Caspian steppe. We also explore the genomic origins of Thracians and their relations to contemporary Europeans. We conclude that contemporary Bulgarians do not harbor Thracian-specific ancestry, since ancient Thracian samples share more SNPs with contemporary Greeks and even contemporary Icelanders than with contemporary Bulgarians.

The “Ketu Nation” of Brazilian Candomblé in Historical Context

The Afro-Brazilian religion of Candomblé arose during the Atlantic slave trade and has unmistakable Yorùbá influences. In the city of Salvador, the term nação ketu [Ketu nation] is used among the oldest temples in describing Yorùbá heritage. This has led some scholars to assume that the founders came from the Yorùbá kingdom by that name. This paper critically examines the idea of Kétu origins, taking as a case study the temple Ilê Axé Iyá Nassô Oká, a national historic heritage site in Brazil that is recognized by UNESCO as a site of diasporic memory. The paper shows that the first generations of leadership were dominated by people from Ọ̀yọ́ and that the term ketu emerged not as an allusion to ethnic origins but perhaps as a metaphor for a heterogeneous cultural context in which Yorùbá speakers from disparate regions lived in close coexistence.

The “Latin” Melting Pot

This article explores how, through discussions about immigrant assimilation in fin de siècle Algeria, French republicans contemplated and wrote into law the ethnic traits of French national identity. Republicans assumed that the North Mediterranean immigrants who settled in Algeria shared ethnic origins with French settlers and consequently asserted that France should work to “fuse” the two groups. Assertions about immigrants' ethnicity took different forms. In the colony they appeared either at the margins of colonial administrators' attacks against immigrant communal organization or in literary representations of French-Mediterranean fusion. In the metropole republican legislators portrayed immigrants as innately prone to becoming French and thus supported the 1889 nationality law that naturalized them. The passing of the 1889 law prompted the creation of an explicitly ethnorepublican assimilatory model. The model's proponents combined sociological and eugenicist principles to both socialize immigrants into the nation and promote the transfer of their Mediterranean “vigor” into French bodies. Cet article examine les efforts des intellectuels et des dirigeants républicains pour assimiler les immigrés européens en Algérie à la fin du dix-neuvième siècle. Il affirme que les identités communautaires et la prépondérance démographique des immigrés ont poussé l'élite républicaine à envisager leur capacité ethnique à s'assimiler à la société française, et montre que l'idée que les Français et les immigrés avaient la même origine ethnique a façonné les débats sur l'assimilation nationale et a influencé la formation des lois républicaines fondamentales. En Algérie, des affirmations à propos de l'identité ethnique des immigrés européens apparaissaient en marge des discussions politiques sur leur organisation communautaire et dans les romans des écrivains algérianistes. En métropole, des législateurs républicains supposaient que la « ressemblance ethnique » entre Français et immigrés assurait l'assimilation rapide de ces derniers et ils ont soutenu la loi de 1889 sur la nationalité qui les a naturalisés. A l'issue de la législation de 1889, une vision de fusionnement des colons français et des membres de la « race méditerranéenne » en Algérie s'est développée. Ses partisans ont combiné des principes sociologiques avec des principes eugéniques dans le but d'incorporer les immigrés européens dans la nation et de faire transporter leur « vigueur » dans les corps des Français.