The thesis criticizes the attempts to construct a cosmopolitan society. It is stressed that the cosmopolitan project does not correspond to the contemporary cultural and social relief. We live in multicultural and multilingual societies which have more differences than similarities. However, there are certain threats to lingual minorities which may end up with the new tower of Babel. Therefore certain measures have to be undertaken in order to protect non-pivotal languages of the world. The thesis aims, firstly, to provide the justifications of the necessity to protect the lingual minorities; and secondly, to recommend what should be undertaken concretely. The close interplay between identity and language is stressed. It is also emphasized that lingual diversity could provide us with more cognitive and scientific knowledge and data than we could get in a unilingual society. In this way individual’s identity would expand. The embodiment of collective/group-differentiated rights could ensure the safe existence of multicultural and multilingual society. / Šis darbas kritikuoja pastangas sukurti kosmopolitinę visuomenę. Prabrėžiama, kad kosmopolitinis projektas neatitinka šių dienų kultūrinio ir socialinio reljefo. Mes gyvename daugiakultūrinėse ir daugiakalbinėse visuomenėse, kurios turi daugiau skirtumų nei panašumų. Vis dėlto, egzistuoja tam tikros grėsmės kalbinėms mažumoms, kurios gali nulemti sugįžimą prie Babelio bokšto. Todėl, siekiant apsaugoti kalbines mažumas, turi būti imtasi tam tikrų priemonių. Šis darbas pirmiausiai siekia pateikti argumentų už kalbinių mažumų išsaugojimą bei nurodyti tai, ko turi būti imtasi konkrečiai. Yra akcentuojama glaudi sąveika tarp kalbos ir identiteto. Taip pat pabrėžiama, kad kalbinė įvairovė galėtų teikti mums daugiau kognityvinių ir mokslinių žinių bei duomenių, nei tai galėtų atlikti vienakalbė visuomenė. Tokiu būdu individo identitetas prasiplėstų, Kolektyvinių arba grupes-skiriančių teisių realizavimas galėtų užtikrinti saugų daugiakultūrinės ir daugiakalbės visuomenės gyvavimą.

The experiences of racial minority teacher candidates are often unheard in teacher education programs considering that the student population is increasingly diversifying and the teaching population does not reflect this dynamic. In a country that is internationally known for its multicultural practices, it is important to examine the experiences of racial minority teacher candidates in order to gain a better understanding of the ways in which issues of race and power persist in our education system. This qualitative study documents the experiences of a small group of racial minority teacher candidates who recently completed post baccalaureate teacher education programs at universities in Ontario, Canada. With a particular focus on their practicum placements, the five participants were interviewed in order to bring to light their experiences of working and living in an education system that sustains, what has been called by critics, “a culture of whiteness.” Over the course of the interviews, the five racial minority teacher candidates reveal that the often covert and overt forms of racism are systemic to the education system. It became obvious that in many cases, the participants did not consciously recognize the racism they encountered while working, living, and learning within the education system. Considering a culture of whiteness that is endemic in schools, power relations were further jeopardized and imbalanced by their race. Despite this, the participants also exhibited forms of resistance to the Eurocentric culture that is so deeply entrenched in the education system. Through an investigation of these themes, this thesis offers implications for future racial minority teacher candidates and anti-racist educators. / Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2008-08-29 13:21:55.632

Ethnic media are powerful, and yet overlooked, spaces that immigrants and ethnic minorities establish to address issues that are not discussed in the dominant host society media. With the international migration of over five million people each year from majority to minority world nations, the emergence of ethnic media in countries around the world has increased significantly; however, relatively little is understood about the ways in which these spaces are used by immigrants and ethnic minorities. This thesis adds to a relatively new area of study in sociology, international development, and alternative media studies and investigates the ways in which Spanish-language ethnic media acts as a ‘Third Space’ where Hispanics disseminate, negotiate, (re)construct, and (re)articulate new notions of hybrid Hispanic-Canadian identity, an identity that operates against, and engages with, multiple-forms of difference and exclusion within Canada. A qualitative discourse analysis of 18 articles from Spanish-language ethnic media source El Correo Canadiense reveals the ways in which Hispanics in Canada negotiate hybridized identity by using ethnic media as a space to create a discourse that acts counter-hegemonically to Canadian mass-media. The findings also reveal the ways in which Hispanics are aiming to engage Canadians in the process of de- and re-constructing preconceived notions of what it means to “be Hispanic” in a transnational context. / Thesis (Master, Sociology) -- Queen's University, 2010-08-03 14:10:08.16

In an era of globalisation, often described as the era of mobility and of the decline of the relevance of territory, the Roma and the Travellers embody a transnational and non-territorial society. Yet this minority group experiences deplorable living conditions and the survival of its culture is endangered. A study of minority protection mechanisms in international law reveals that the grasp of territory and "sedentarism" has far from disappeared from this branch of law. Territory (or the absence thereof) and movement are the main challenges faced by international law in the development of solutions to the situation of the Roma and the Travellers. In light of the failure of current minority protection regimes, the quest for recognition of a "Roma nation" appears to be an avenue worth exploring. However, while the Roma may not fall clearly within the parameters of minority protection, they do not fall clearly within the concept of nation either. When examining the potential of such recognition, one realizes that it is necessary to redefine the right of self-determination in the context of minority protection and in a transnational and non-territorial perspective.

A growing body of both substantive and theoretical literature suggests that educational underachievement among certain ethnic groups is due to the cultural discontinuity between mainstream education and minority students. A pedagogy that both uses and reinforces the culture of ethnic minority students, implemented by ethnically similar teachers, is therefore thought to contribute to a more constructive school experience and strengthen the social and political status of the ethnic community as a whole. For this thesis, a group of Haitian educators working in Montreal area schools was interviewed to investigate the extent to which this approach is viewed as a potential solution to the low academic achievement of numerous Haitian students. Some evidence was found that culturally congruent education is, according to the experiences of some of the respondents, a potentially beneficial strategy to curtail educational inequality. In was generally argued, however, that this should be a limited, remedial strategy with little bearing on the communal survival of the Haitian community.

During the language debates of the 1960s, Montreal's Italian community found itself in the middle of a conflict between Anglophones and Francophones. Forced to chose, the Italian community aligned itself with Anglophones. / The portrait which has been cast by numerous authors evokes the image of an Italian immigrant used as a pawn in a fight which generally was not his and which he could not understand. / An examination of the Italian press gives us a different image. St. Leonard represented more than a fight over the language issue. It was as much a dispute over the status of ethnic minorities in Quebec as it was over the language question. This study examines the immigrant's "Italianita" and how it helped shape his response to the ethnic tensions in St. Leonard.

Eleven years into the South African democracy there are still huge challenges facing South African public schools, especially with regard to the notions of equity and redress. Increasingly historically advantaged and disadvantaged South African schools are entering into partnerships in an attempts to address the challenges facing them. This study focused on one such a partnership between two primary schools in an attempt to ascertain whether partnerships can in fact improve the situation.

In most developing countries the characteristics of the poor go beyond the traditional definition of poverty. Whilst the latter broadly refers to lack of access to material resources, there are other factors that are linked to poverty. This thesis identifies one of these factors as social exclusion which is suggested as a barrier to poverty reduction efforts. Drawing from the experience on the concept of social exclusion as developed in the north, and extended to some countries in the south, the social exclusion framework is applied within the context of a country in the south, namely Botswana. The thesis investigates the operation of social exclusion within the Basarwa minority group in the country, by identifying the appropriate mechanisms that drive social exclusion, describing the processes of exclusion, and delineating its characteristics. This is done within the context oftesting the proposition that social exclusion is one of the factors linked to the persistence of poverty. Noting that persistence of poverty is conventionally attributed, among others things, to shortfall in education and skills, lack of opportunities and capital or land, the thesis investigates the root causes ofthese factors in as far as Basarwa are concerned. It is argued that such shortfalls and failure to obtain adequate resources are due to exclusionary processes operating at two levels. The major findings are that the concept is multidimensional and that the target group faces exclusion in political, socio-cultural, economic, spatial and legal terms. This exclusion operates at the national and local levels. Owing to this multiple exclusion, Basarwa generally face difficulties in escaping poverty, with the older generation being the most affected. Social exclusion is a barrier to poverty reduction because it makes it difficult for the Basarwa to obtain equal and satisfactory access to opportunities, assets, and resources available in political, economic and social fields of society. The thesis offers some policy suggestions about how to reduce social exclusion. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2003.

This research study deals with educators' experiences and daily encounters within two diverse school settings. Educators from both schools are from diverse religious, racial and cultural backgrounds. The study focuses on issues of social groups based on religious affiliations and was guided by theories of oppression and social justice. The following questions were the focus of the study: 1. What have been the experiences of non-Christian educators in a predominantly Christian school around religion? 2. What caused these experiences to be constructed in a way they did? 3. To what extent have the experiences of non-Christians at the school been similar to earlier experiences in relationship to religion in their lives? 4. To what extent are the experiences of non-Christians evidence for describing their situation as one of 'religious oppression'? A qualitative approach was used. Semi-structured interviews were conducted at one school and questionnaires were completed at the second school, as the researcher was unable to interview educators because of time constraints. The results of the research indicated that educator experiences differed from one school to the next. Although it is not possible to make a judgement about religious oppression based on such limited contexts, there is significant evidence of social exclusion based on religion at the one school. At times these issues are caught up in racial and gender issues, or issues between non-Christian religions. However, at the second school educators experienced a high degree of inclusion. The research raises questions about the ways in which schools in South Africa are addressing the constitutional and policy requirements concerning the acceptance of religious diversity. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2006.

My topic is an analysis of the various theories of multiculturalism and how they would respond to controversial issues concerning freedom of speech with regard to religious sensitivities. While Western nations have often concentrated on 'nation building', or the integration of citizens into public institutions, there has been the emerging trend of minority rights and 'multiculturalism' (Kymlicka, 2001, pp. 2-3). Groups with diverse interests and political agendas are resisting assimilation into wider society and are struggling for acceptence, respect and public affirmation of their differences (Parekh, 2000, p. 1). While the nation state has not become obselete, many of its traditional functions have lost their relevance and value and we therefore need to reconceptualize its nature and role (Parekh, 2000, pp. 193-194). Many nations have a new found interest in multicultural policies and Australia has declared itself multicultural in the early 1970's as did Canada; and the debate around multicultural policies has raged on in Britain, Germany and Israel since the 1960's (Parekh, 2000, p. 5). In Kymlicka's view, public opinion has shifted from seeing minority rights as a pragmatic compromise to a matter of fundamental justice (Kymlicka, 2001, p. 6). One controversy that multiculturalist policies have raised is issues of tolerance of cultural difference, including group rights. This is evident on a daily basis, from the storm around Muslim girls wearing headscarves in France, to the debate surrounding the use of French as a first language in Quebec; multiculturalism has been asked, what should be tolerated? In my dissertation I will look at the controversial topic of freedom of speech within liberal democratic systems. Freedom of speech is an integral part of a democratic system, and in democratic systems discussion is often cited as a means of reaching consensus and compromise. Free speech is also intended to explore new ways of thinking and to criticize ways of thinking and living. The difficulty comes when there are certain topics, such as the lampooning of Islam and the Prophet and denying the Holocaust, which are deemed to be off limits by certain groups. Different liberal philosophies however have differing views on what the limits of free speech are. I will be looking into these philosophies and whether the limits they set apply to the Danish cartoon controversy and to the David Irving case of Holocaust denialism. There are three broad theories of how liberal systems ought to deal with the demands of a plural society. These are 'classical liberalism', 'liberal nationalism' and 'multiculturalism'. In broad terms, classical liberal theory is intolerant of special group rights, liberal-nationalism affirms certain kinds of group rights within a liberal framework, and multiculturalism asserts the equality of cultures, and questions the primacy of liberalism. The question that I will be answering is how these theories deal with group rights when those groups ask for the limiting of speech that is deemed offensive to group culture or religion. In a more global society, different cultural and religious groups have differing levels of tolerance toward certain kinds of speech. Certain groups value freedom of speech with very few constraints, whilst others believe that that some speech is harmful and disrespectful to their culture or religion. Questions about the viability of these different cultural and religious groups co-existing have been highlighted by recent events. The two cases to be explored in my analysis will be, firstly, the outcry following the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammed in Denmark. Many of these cartoons were seen to be derogatory to Muslims and the depiction of the Prophet is also not allowed in many Islamic traditions. Much of Danish society felt that although these cartoons were offensive and in bad taste, they had to protect their right to freedom even though it may be offensive to others. This pits the Islamic culture against that of the Danish 'liberal' culture and asks the question of whether 'liberal' culture or 'multiculturalism' can assure religious tolerance? My second example is the controversial case involving the historian David Irving and his questioning of the Holocaust. This questioning led to his imprisonment in Austria for the crimes of Holocaust denial. This case involves someone expressing his freedom of speech, yet many liberal-democratic countries have laws expressly prohibiting this kind of Holocaust denial. The reasoning behind such laws is to protect the sentiments of Jewish community and the suffering they endured under the Holocaust. In both cases, the interests of religious groups are invoked as being sufficiently harmed, and the liberal right to free speech should therefore be limited. Hence the thesis looks to explore religious tolerance available in classical liberal, liberal-nationalist and multiculturalist systems at a theoretical level. I will also argue that certain kinds and manner of speech, such as speech that lampoons and offends group sensibilities, should be limited in certain cases and that liberal-nationalism provides the most fair way of adjudicating disputes. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2008.