Living together in culturally-plural societies: Understanding and managing acculturation and multiculturalism

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511720437.017

14 - Living together in culturally-plural societies: Understanding and managing acculturation and multiculturalism

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 August 2010

John W. Berry

Edited by

Sevda Bekman and

Ayhan Aksu-Koç

Foreword by

M. Brewster Smith

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Sevda Bekman: Affiliation:
Bogaziçi University, Istanbul
Ayhan Aksu-Koç: Affiliation:
Bogaziçi University, Istanbul

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Summary

Since our first meeting at the now famous İstanbul conference on Human Abilities in 1971 (Cronbach and Drenth 1972), Çiğdem and her work have been constantly on my personal and research agenda (e.g., Berry et al. 1997; Kağıtçıbaşı and Berry 1989). Our joint concern for how to make psychological research useful to policy and program development has brought us together on numerous occasions. One occasion, which will be the focus of this chapter, was the 1997 exchange of views in Applied Psychology (Berry 1997; Kağıtçıbaşı 1997), where we attempted to bridge the positions between an avowed cultural pluralist (me), and one who saw dangers in such a world view. In this chapter, I outline my pluralist perspective, portray her concerns, and attempt to persuade her (and others) that pluralism is a reality that needs to be understood in psychological and policy terms, and then accommodated at the personal and societal levels.

Introduction

All contemporary societies are now culturally plural; no society is made up of people having one culture, one language, and one identity (Sam and Berry 2006). The prediction made over a century ago by Quincy Adams (1811; cited in Lens 1974: 3) that, “The whole continent of North America appears to be destined by Divine Providence to be peopled by one nation, speaking one language, professing one general system of religious and political principles, and accustomed to one general tenor of social usages and customs,” has not come to pass in North America, nor in any other part of the world.

Type: Chapter
Information: Perspectives on Human Development, Family, and Culture , pp. 227 - 240

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511720437.017 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2009

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