The Crises of Multiculturalism

Reviews / Votes

This book provides a rich and scholarly analysis of the multiple forces at play in the construction of the "death of multiculturalism" as a flexible and potent political discourse. Incisive and provocative in it's analysis; it is uncomfortable reading for those on both the left and right in politics. This is necessary reading for anyone concerned with the complex masking of racism within the rhetorical dance of national identities and globalized neo-liberal ideologies. * Charles Husband, Centre for Applied Social Research, University of Bradford * The Crises of Multiculturalism critically examines the entanglements inherent in the broad range of European multiculturalisms today, their "loud" rejection and yet a melancholic neediness expressed in their bemoaning. The analysis is especially incisive about the ways in which an "era of integration," as multiculturalism's contemporary expression, seeks insecurely to assert authoritative control and security in the face of threatening and fearful expressions of a burgeoning multiculture supposedly marking European nations. The authors reveal how the politics of multiculturalism continue to structure, reproduce, and render less visible contemporary racisms.Those concerned to understand the synchrony of multiculturalism, integration, and revitalized racisms across the European landscape would do well to consult this book. * David Theo Goldberg, University of California * Neoliberalism is deeply connected to racism: austerity, exclusion, the restriction of rights and withdrawal of freedoms -- hallmarks of both these despotic phenomena -- all mark their congruence and indeed interdependence. But in Europe and elsewhere as well the new racist regime has employed the seemingly benign and tolerant trope of multiculturalism to mask its malevolence. Lentin and Titley's fierce critique of this strategy provides a much-needed critical analysis of multiculturalism's ineffectuality in opposing the racism rising in Europe today. This book points out how racism cannot be understood as a matter of cultural difference. This book exposes the repressive assumptions that shape the politics of multiculturalism and that place the burden of inclusion on those seen as "different" and "other," rather than on the regimes of privilege and hierarchy that target immigrants, Muslims, and blacks in their effort to maintain a white "fortress Europe." The smiling rhetoric of tolerance, we learn here, is still produced by sharp white teeth. Highly recommended! * Howard Winant, UC Santa Barbara, Director, University of California Center for New Racial Studies * Alana Lentin and Gavan Titley offer a powerful and persuasive account of how multiculturalism has been sentenced to death. Drawing on a vast array of sources, voices and examples, they show how laments on the failure of multiculturalism create a political and affective landscape in which racism is simultaneously repudiated and reproduced. A necessary and important book. * Sara Ahmed, Professor of Race and Cultural Studies, Goldsmiths College *