Multicultural Society: Dialogically or Segregationally Constituted?

Abstract

Multiculturalism is a fluid and unstable concept, an idea in the making and that is why the conceptualization of it arises so many queries. This paper analyses the nature of multiculturalism as a cultural and political movement as well as the specific particularities of intercultural dialogue within a multicultural society. The conclusion is that a multicultural society can only survive if it is dialogically constituted. It is argued that dialogue between cultures is valued not as a strategy for coping with cultural diversity, inherent in most societies nowadays, but as a means of making the most of the ontological, epistemological, and moral advantages of such diversity.