Η "πολυπολιτισμικότητα" εναντίον της πολυπολιτισμικότητας; Ανασταλτικοί παράγοντες της "ανοιχτής κοινωνίας"

Abstract

First we outline the conditions and respectively the challenges which led to the rekind- ing of underlying xenophobic tendencies and cultural-ethnic entrenchment in Europe and particulary in Greece after the dictatorship. From the perspective of our analysis, ethno- centrism is analyzed not as a defense mechanism against a multi-cultural society, but rather as an expression of structured vested interests of particularistic groups. These groups, each with its own perspectives and interests, functioning in conditions of multicultural differentiation, create dogmatic and unbending stereotypes which they instill in the consciousness of their members. As a result, cultural conflicts are in fact more an expression of this socialization in the perspectives of specific groups, than an expression of cultutal deffe- rences per se. On the contrary, it is noted that in societies where the production of ‘cultural goods’ or ideologies is not monopolized by organized particularistic groups, tolerance, convergence and open interaction among different cultures and religions prevail. Finally, what runs contrary to multicultural coexistence is not the differences between the various groups, but the purposeful and methodical use of these differences for the attainment of power and hegemony. From this theoretical perspective we reach some conclusions with respect to the way in which minorities or other groups integrate into cultural and/or religious values and practices which differ from those of the dominant group.