Culturally Responsive Policies

Kymlicka's paper explores the issue of ethnocultural diversity and he presents a number of models that help examine the complexities of the subject. Several models that Kymlicka allude to include multilingual multination federalism for ethnonational groups; internal decolonisation for indigenous peoples; and immigrant multiculturalism for immigrant groups. Each model presents a unique combination of policies, involving economic, political and cultural dimensions. Kymlicka focuses on the cultural aspects of the models because he believes that these components are often more difficult to understand.

According to Kymlicka the worldwide trend of ethnocultural diversity is respect and accommodation, rather than suppression or neglect by the state. Demands for more culturally inclusive policies are taking place and an emergence of multicultural states supports this position. Kymlicka suggests that this process is uneven and controversial. One of the purposes of his paper is to look at models that accommodate ethnocultural diversity through culturally inclusive policies as well as the limits and obstacles that stymie progress in this area.

When Kymlicka explores the cultural aspects of some of the models he asks these types of questions: "do these new policies constitute effective forms of cultural inclusion, and if so, is culture being included in a way that is consistent with the HDR’s emphasis on cultural freedom?" These are not easy questions to answer in part because of the variations in the history and current conditions and aspirations of different indigenous groups. He offers an example of the highland Indians in the Andes who have been integrated as peasants into the larger economy for 500 years and compares them to indigenous peoples, like the Amazonian tribes, who have only come in contact with European society in the last few decades. Some indigenous groups include millions of people (like the Quechua) while other groups can be as small as a few hundred people. Kymlicka asserts that is impossible to make generalisations about the forms of cultural inclusion and exclusion.

Different types of ethnocultural groups confront different risks and challenges from state nation-building, and as a result, different patterns of cultural inclusion and exclusion associated with each type of group need to be reviewed. While each country’s policies are unique, it is possible to find general patterns or trends of cultural inclusion. In Western democracies where there exists a variety of leadership personalities, party platforms and electoral systems, the basic trends regarding diversity are the same. Kymlicka hypothesises that five deep sociological facts support this: "numbers, rights consciousness, opportunity-structures, value-consensus, and geo-political security." He suggests that there are five key foundations of Western trends towards accommodating diversity: demographics, rights-consciousness, multiple access points for safe political mobilisation, a consensus on liberal-democratic values, and the desecuritisation of ethnic relations.

Kymlicka believes that worldwide ethnocultural minorities are demanding greater recognition and accommodation of their cultural practices and identities. Examples include demands for the recognition of customary law for indigenous peoples; demands for language rights by substate national groups; and demands for the accommodation of cultural and religious practices by immigrant groups.

Kymlicka points out that there is no universally agreed-upon typology for categorising ethnocultural groups. Many different terms are used, including “nations”, “nationalities”, “national minorities”, “ethnic groups”, “tribes”, “diasporas”, “migrants”, to name just a few. He also suggests that it is important to remember that "minorities often seek to maintain markers of their cultural difference (such as a distinct legal tradition), not out of a conservative desire to maintain primordial traditions, but because these markers of cultural difference are important to the justification and mobilisation of larger political projects, such as self-government."

According to Kymlicka, issues surrounding the topic of cultural policy are "always linked to issues of economic and political policy, because they all form components of larger strategies for the management of ethnocultural diversity. When examining the issue of ethnocultural diversity Kymlicka suggests that explanations must lie in contemporary realities and not in civilisational differences.” Kymlicka believes that the trend towards greater accommodation of ethnocultural diversity is "inevitable."