MULTICULTURALISM AS THE CONSOLIDATION PRINCIPLE OF ETHNIC GROUPS AND PERSONS IN SOCIAL WORK

Abstract

The problems of understanding and managing the cultural diversity on the region level, states and national communities level and even on the individuals level were difficult to be solved today. Therefore it is important to consider the conditions that are necessary and sufficient in order to consolidate communities in the social work that are differrent in cultural orientation.

The purpose of the article is to find out the possibilities of consolidation of the ethnic groups and individuals in social work on the principle of multiculturalism. The aim of the article is realized in the following tasks: 1) consider the characteristics of a multicultural societies in a postmodern perspective. 2) to interpret societal foundation of the policy of multiculturalism. The challenge of the multicultural society is the negation of culture hierarchy, the cultural division between center and periphery, the primacy of horizontal connections over the vertical ones. All this brings multiculturalism to the practice of postmodern communities.

The principle of a multicultural society is to take ethnic differences to the extent that individuals can identify themselves with the cultural tradition, but only if their identification does not violate the human rights and the laws of the countries. In this regard, there is a problem of societal basis of political practice of multiculturalism. As it is, on the one hand, makes the above horizontal communication of the cultures in a multicultural community, and on the other hand — makes person to overcome the limits of his/her identity and makes person recognize the value of other cultures in own self-realization. The postmodernity project of modern multicultural reality focuses on the harmonization of the concepts of «Self», «Other», «Alien» in the individual and social space and appeals to the idea of cultural dialogue. In these circumstances, the individually multiculturalism is necessary. The individual multiculturalism — is person’s ability in the existence process, to create new values and meanings at the crossroads of different cultures. The ethnic identity that was achieved through the ethnic self identity of the individual in the social work, including personally acceptable ethnic traditions, values and meanings of creativity, the empathy and co-working experience as part of a collective subject — the nation.