Ministry of Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan Baku International Multiculturalism Centre Azerbaijani Multiculturalism Textbook for Higher Education

Soft and hard forms of multiculturalism

There are various views in the literature concerning the soft and hard forms of multiculturalism and the distinct differences between them. According to Prof. Chandran Kukathas of the London School of Economics, the strong and weak forms of multiculturalism are manifest in relation to the ethnocultural diversity in society.

The soft form of multiculturalism creates conditions for ethnic

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    and national minorities to protect their ethnocultural values. But if
    

they are unable to protect their ethnocultural values themselves, the best way out of this situation is to adopt the ethnocultural values of the titular ethnos. In other words, they find themselves in a situation in which it suits them to accept the ethnocultural values of the titular ethnos without any outside pressure. In such a situation it is difficult to protect cultural identity and ethnocultural values. As they see no other solution, the minorities give up willingly the idea of protecting their ethnocultural values if not completely, then at least to a certain extent, and think it practically beneficial to integrate into the society in which they live. For example, the soft form of multiculturalism was observed in the Soviet Union. Though the non-Russian union republics of the Soviet Union had wide opportunities to protect and develop their languages, literatures and cultures, they still preferred to learn the ethnocultural values and history of the Russian people and to be educated in Russian, because it helped them build their careers and be successful in all the spheres of the society in which they lived.

There is a near identical situation at present in some Western countries; for example, in the USA, Canada, the Netherlands, Great Britain and Austria. Tolerance is shown towards the ethnocultural values of the national minorities living in these countries. As a result of this attitude, the national minorities have the right to protect their customs and traditions, to publish newspapers and magazines, and even to open schools in their own languages in the countries in which they reside. Prof. Kukathas has observed that in these countries tolerance is shown towards various cultures or customs and traditions that are not in themselves consistent with liberalism or liberal values. According to him, classical liberal society is able to embrace even illiberal elements. The tolerance shown towards national minorities by liberal societies neither assimilates their ethnocultural values, nor isolates them. However, despite the tolerance shown towards national minorities and their ethnocultural values in Western countries, the ethnic minorities think it more important to learn the ethnocultural values of the

Section I

Chapter 1

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Azerbaijani Multiculturalism

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titular ethnos, to assimilate their language, customs and traditions in order to integrate into that society. Doing so gives them every opportunity to take an active part in all parts of life of that society. Thus, national minorities willingly refuse to make use of the opportunities created by the soft form of multiculturalism existing in a number of Western countries.

Unlike the soft form, multiculturalism in its hard form requires the creation of all the conditions for national minorities both to preserve their ethnocultural values, and to take an active part in all areas of life of the society in which they live. Tolerance of ethnocultural diversity in society is not enough for the hard form of multiculturalism. The supporters of this form think that the state should protect and develop this diversity, supporting it financially, legally and morally. In this regard, the Canadian professor Will Kymlicka, a well-known scholar of multiculturalism, says that the state should recognize the rights of all ethnic, religious and racial groups and propose special programmes for the protection of their cultures. He believes this intervention by the state will help to preserve the cultural independence of minorities. Nevertheless, Will Kymlicka thinks that the national minorities should respect the laws of the society in which they live.

Both of these forms of multiculturalism are based on the theory of liberalism. But as Prof. Kukathas has noted, soft multiculturalism, which does not accept state intervention in the management of national relations in society, is based on classical liberalism, while hard multiculturalism, which advocates active state intervention in the management of those relations, is based on modern liberalism.