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how to live together peacefully in a diverse society

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an issue that vexes societies around the world

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how can people with different beliefs, backgrounds, looks, and ideas live together with as little conflict as possible

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immigration is as old as humanity itself

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100,000 years ago: the march out of Africa for homo sapien sapiens

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modern migrations across the Atlantic or Asia

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with globalization, immigration is accelerated

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transnational communities

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communities which exist across borders

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even people connecting via computer programs such as World of Warcraft

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these communities are becoming more enabled by mobile technology

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mass migration

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has become a major issue in countries around the world

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dispute over borders

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two key concepts

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1. nationalism

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started out as an emancipatory concept to bring about self-determination for people who self-identified and shared

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a myth of origin

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a common language

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a group identity

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a desire to rule themselves in opposition to an empire or centralization of power

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brought about the unification of places like Italy and Germany

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the rallying cry to come together usually comes with the rallying cry to differentiate ourselves with others

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othering

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distinguishing ourselves in some way from others

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distinguishing these others from ourselves

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often goes hand-in-hand with racism and a categorization of "us vs. them"

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2. multiculturalism

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societies with a mixed makeup of peoples from diverse cultures and religious heritage

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othering is damaging for multicultural societies

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for policy makers, multiculturalism has been a concept used to make peace

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create a more equal playing field for immigrants

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to socially engineer a new, national identity