Call for papers
Convenor
Manas Chowdhury
Jahangirnagar University
Co-covenor
Masahiko Togawa
Hiroshima University
Abstract
The concept of multiculturalism has been much celebrated in the contemporary era, especially among the developed nations. Since its inception, the term ‘multiculturalism’ has provided a complex insight to the processes of (cultural) globalization. The emphasis over the policies of multiculturalism has made the whole modern nation-states’ cultural and social processes even more interesting and meaningful. This fact should be seen both among the recipients of the multiculturalism – the subject of the developed nations, and in relation to the expressions of experts and policy-makers in different social and political format. Given the context, one must keep in mind that the processes of, and claims for, the multiculturalism predominantly are evident in ‘economic development’ and ‘liberal culture’ and play crucial role in othering those societies and nations that claim to be mono-cultural or mono-ethnic one. As an integral part of globalization, multiculturalism leaves many unresolved questions. On this backdrop, not ironically, multiculturalism can only be negotiated by the stronger and assertive stakeholders of the globalization which is found in the outcries for ‘local’ in many cases for some time now. One aspect of this negotiation is to uphold ‘local’ of one’s own in the form of anxiety or worry or sense of insecurity.