Korean Job Discussion Forums

[tottenhamtaipeinick]

I am attending a conference directed at multiculturalism and how to bring a city together.... Any ideas???problems? good things?

I really want to hear experiences from people like westerners who may have lived in cities in the west and can compare it to the largely homogenous cities of the east (i.e. Cities in Korea, China, Taiwan etc)

[jvalmer]

I'll say multiculturalism doesn't really work anywhere. Any outside ethnic group, from a far off land, that enters a new country will eventually assimilate to the mainstream culture in a few generations. Key words is 'far off land'. Eventually the many Asians that have immigrated to North America in the last 50 years will be assimilated when their immigrations numbers drop off. A good example is the Japanese.

These days there is virtually no emigration from Japan, and the vast majority of Japanese-Americans are 2+ generations and virtually all marry outside their group. Other examples are the western Europeans that came in the first half of the 20th century Irish, Italians, Germans, etc... Immigration from those countries is minimal, most are 3, 4, 5, or more generation descendants and have essentially no connection to their ancestral countries except for their last names.

However, if the ethnic group is from a bordering country or a region that the country has taken over many many years ago, they become an invisible minority. Invisible minority being that on the surface they will look and act the same as the majority, but in private may retain elements of their original culture over many many generations, and may never lose the originating culture, since their cultural source is just next door. Another question would be if the country would consider them part of their national culture since they may share many similarities and any differences wouldn't be considered different since the two countries have interacted with each other for years. Kind of like Southern China vs Northern China, Kyeongsang vs Seoul, or Canadians in the US.

[Unposter]

First of all, I would say it is not a question of does it work or not work. It has to work in countries that allow immigration. And, it probably has to work in countries that want to participate in the global economy.

Economically, I think the U.S. and other multi-cultural nations have benefited. The U.S. has benefited from the diversity of skills, perspectives and desires (toward business objectives). The U.S. continues to benefit from being able to bring in both highly educated, highly skilled workers from abroad as well as low skill, cheap labor from abroad.

Multi-culturalism has brought tension and conflict and will probably continue to bring tension and conflict. I think multi-culturalism requires some governmental and educational vigilance.

But, I think some of this conflict is good as it pushes the boundries of understanding as well as create economic competition that motivates individuals in society. Social tension is not always bad.

Is multiculturalism perfect? No. But, I think as long as economics becomes more and more borderless, it is necessary and government, schools and businesses need to do what they have to do to prepare for it.

[machoman]

i typed out a long response but then felt like i lost my point somewhere so then deleted it all. but i'll sum up my point:

racism seems to be such a big problem still in america and because of different ethnic groups are pretty exclusive, it kind of creates this sort of apathetic attitude about everything. as if it's not "their" responsibility.

but for instance, in korea, there seems to be a big sense of pride in their country. there seems to be a sense of unity, something that i don't feel in the states. the only time i felt that was after 9/11.

this is coming from an asian-american perspective btw. i'm sure your answer would vary based on your ethnicity.

[PigeonFart]

Multiculturalism is fine, to an extent.

You foreigners can come to my country (Luxemburg) and dress in your funny clothes, speak your own languages, and bring your interesting food.

However, if you bring stone-age beliefs (Islam) then you are not welcome. So one's values are VERY important when it comes to being accepted in a host country.

[redaxe]

There are a lot of multicultural cities that work just fine (well, compared to every other dysfunctional excuse for a city on earth), but I think living in Korea for so long has made you guys think that it's not possible.

Try taking a trip to Singapore or Kuala Lumpur. Malays, Indians and Chinese have managed to coexist in a mostly functional, non-violent society for many years now.

And then note that most of Europe is practically one big democratic country now, whereas they used to wage war on each other constantly.

Actually a lot more examples are coming to mind now but I think I already got the point across.

[comm]

[Privateer]

I think in most countries in the world (outside North America) and in most times, multiculturalism has been the norm. We now have ever-more powerful states imposing uniformity, and it can be a problem.

[le-paul]

i think the future for a muticultural society is people dominating specific areas according to their social group and eventually living side by side other social groups - trading for example but still living as seperate societies.

This is not a new concept, its been going on for 1000s of years and hasnt changed.

a common language is the way forward for example most people in rome spoke greek.

[BaldTeacher]

I think that in a liberal democracy, it works on a limited scale. To make it work on a mass scale, you need a more repressive government like Singapore's.

Another thing- economic conservatism, globalisation and social liberalism are a horrible mix.

[Skipperoo]

Depends how you define 'work'.

The UK is enormously multicultural and generally speaking it ticks along just fine, my own life has been enriched by multiculturalism hugely. It causes a lot of problems too of course which will always be the case when people with fundamentally different values live alongside one another.

So, yes and no, but mostly yes.

[Junior]

[AmericanBornKorean]

I personally found the nationalism of Korea unbearable and stupid. They are such a proud group of people despite being such a small nation. I remember this taxi driver was so surprised I had no idea what politics were going on in Korea. Why would I care?

I'm American, proud of it, and this is coming from a Korean who is nearly fluent in Korean.

[travel zen]

[comm]