Amy Tan 's The Joy Luck Club

Culture is the Backbone of a society, when something/someone tries to alter it or go against it everyone will notice. In this issue pointed out by Ruth Macklin, we look at the problems that can arise when an individual’s culture and autonomy clash. Every year there at least 30 million immigrants from all over the world that move to the United states of America, making America one of the most culturally diverse country in the world. Keeping this in mind, we will focus on Ruth Macklin’s issue of Multiculturalism. Multiculturalism is the co-existence of diverse cultures, where culture includes racial, religious, or cultural groups and is manifested in customary behaviors, cultural assumptions and values, patterns of thinking, and communicative styles. Critics argue that we associate culture with a society, community and or family, but rarely with a single individual, thus placing it above the individual person. In this paper we are going to look at four different scenarios on from Ruth Macklin’s article.

Pluralism is one of the three theories of government, which is a condition or system in which two or more states, groups, principles, sources of authority, etc., coexist. Pluralism is a combination of different sorts of people among the many are like-minded people, unions, professional associates, and business lobbyists. For pluralism to operate and to be successful in establishing the common

According to Michael Haas, cultural pluralists respond that American cultural pluralism thrives in an integrated, not a segregated, society. They accept cultures as internally dynamic, changing and adapting over time with plenty of room for diversity inside each culture. Cultural attachments are seen as important but not exclusive, as Americans must respect those of different cultures in order to enjoy liberty together. As immigrants and native-born citizens have learned from one another, thereby broadening their views on art, cuisine, education, history, music, and other aspects of life (Immigration to the United States).

The concept of consent and descent is used throughout literature to show tension between cultures. Descent relates to the nation or culture that one or one’s family comes from. Consent shows a relation to the culture that is chosen, even though it may not be the one that someone is born into; consent may also be seen as Americanizing. One’s ethnic identity may be torn between the concepts of consent and descent. The culture of descent may conflict with the culture of consent. The contradictory ideologies might cause an inner struggle because these two components of identity. Within The Joy Luck Club, the Chinese heritage is the culture of descent and the American lifestyle is the culture of consent.

Fredrickson writes “”Unlike assimilationists, cultural Pluralists celebrate differences among groups, rather than seek to obliterate them.” According to Fredrickson, pluralism differed from Multiculturalism, “Multiculturalism operated on assumptions that were similar to those of the cultural pluralist tradition, except that the color line was breached and the focus was shifted from the cultures and contributions of diverse European ethnic groups to those of

Pluralist theory views politics and decision making as a competitive phenomenon where different groups and individuals have different views and that there is no single elite group that exercises influence (Davis & Go, 2009). The theory holds that power is relatively broadly distributed among different interest groups. These groups hold different views of the same aspect and compete with each

Pluralism can be distinguished by two different types: cultural and structural. Cultural pluralism exists when groups have not acculturated and each maintains its own identity. The groups might speak different languages, practice different religions, and have different value systems (Healey, 2017, 55). The Amish are a perfect representation of a cultural pluralism. They are separated from the dominant culture

Diversity means that people from different backgrounds living in close quarters (Patel). Pluralism is one state with many peoples (Patel). Pluralism is also stated as the deliberate and positive engagement of diversity to build bonds between people from different backgrounds. According to

Pluralism is a worldview in which the society members structure their culture based on acceptance and diversity. These common traits all strive for the common good of all and also realize there is some truth in other beliefs (Pluralism, 2015). This worldview stresses the importance of tolerance of other religions but does not however deviate from their own beliefs.

A plural society defines social structure that consist/comprises of different communities, races, cultures or other social groupings. A plural society is formed when one or more different integrate into one singular society. Although a plural society is a grouping of differences, it seems being a plural society only serves to make them more distinct from each other. From the early uses of the label plural society, there seems not an intention for it serve as a complete integration, but their coexistence in a singular structure. There are many different types of plural society as there’s not only the defined different plural societies but also, the evolution of the plural society concept itself has forged different meanings for a plural society.

Pluralistic superiority is a pervasive concept existing in a significant portion of the Westernized world, enforcing the notion that multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, and multi-national ideologies are inextricably related with societal and economic progress, exemplified by the myopic and unsubstantiated quotation ‘Diversity is Strength’ from the current incumbent of Canada’s position of prime minister. The fundamental issue with this perspective is its inability to properly process anterior information related to alternate states, and the orthodox prerequisites involved in the ascension of relevant nation states by creating such an axiomatic statement which purportedly embodies the quixotic goals of a state. As a method of responding to the notion

Some consider the terms pluralism and diversity to be synonymous; this is in fact untrue. They are two very different things. While diversity is merely having varying types or ideologies existing in the same district or community, pluralism is defined in a contrasting manner. Furthermore, where as diversity can happen whether or not a person or group puts in a conscious effort to make it happen, pluralism requires a constant effort and could possibly be defined as a collaboration of achievement. According to Diana Eck, in her essay, “From Diversity to Pluralism,” pluralism is defined as the engagement that creates a common society from all diversity.

Multiculturalism is the act of giving equivalent consideration regarding various foundations in a specific setting, and it can happen when a purview is made or extended by amalgamating zones with two or more diverse societies or through migration from various locales around the globe. Multiculturalism that seeks in keeping up the peculiarity of numerous societies is regularly differentiated to other settlement arrangements, for example, social mix, social osmosis, and racial isolation. Multiculturalism has been depicted as a "salad bowl" and "cultural mosaic" (Burgess, et al. 2005). In spite of the way that multiculturalism has predominantly been utilized as a term to characterize distraught gatherings, numerous scholars tend to center their contentions on outsiders who are ethnic and religious minorities, minority countries, and indigenous people groups. The term multiculturalism is frequently utilized as a part of a reference to Western country states, which

I liked how the lecture pointed out that pluralism is the response of diversity (“Diana Eck,” 2009). With that said, do you think that if America was not the “melting pot” that it is today, that we would use pluralism

The concepts discussed in this lecture helped my understanding of like in a cultural pluralistic society very well. Culture is a big concept that helped with my understanding because everything we perceive around us is learned through our culture lens. Cultural Relativism is when a custom or practiced can only be evaluated in the culture it is a part of which means you cannot evaluate it from an ethnocentric point of view. You wouldn’t be able to understand practices that are different then your own in an ethnocentric way. This takes me back into understanding a culturally pluralistic society because you have to maintain your culture and be accepted by a larger culture to be considered culturally pluralistic.