Multiculturalism and Nationhood: Does Recognizing Difference Promote Cooperation and Unity?
Multiculturalism promotes inclusion, but is it compatible with a sense of nationhood? Critics have worried that it is not. They suspect strong attachments to multiple cultural groups compete with strong attachments to the nation and reduce social capital and communitarian behavior at the national level. This study explores whether that is true. It reports on a national survey conducted among the general population and additional 20 samples of African-Americans and Hispanics to examine the theoretical propositions that forecast multiculturalism's effect. It finds that multicultural mental representations of the nation associate with support for integrative inclusion and that strong attachment to a cultural group is positively associated with strong attachment to the nation -- not only among Whites but among African-Americans and Hispanics, too. However, to guard against the toll multicultural representations may take on patriotism and pulling together, it is important to emphasize what is common, not only what is diverse.
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