Celebrating Diversity: Coexisting in a Multicultural Society

Celebrating Diversity: Coexisting in a Multicultural Society, offers pragmatic ways to replace conflictive behaviors between diverse peoples with coexistence alternatives. Coexistence-partnership values and skills help us to outgrow ways of the past--competition, suspicion, manipulation, isolation, victimization. These skills enhance our own lives as well as those of future generations. In Celebrating Diversity, author Benyamin Chetkow-Yanoov asserts that the increasing religious-ethnic-linguistic pluralisms of the twentieth century requires that we cease lumping people different from ourselves into an "other" category. He identifies classical elements of a coexistence model and suggests various strategies and tactics for implementing coexistence in modern societies. Among the many insights you will find are: the definition of coexistence an analysis of past patterns of majority-minority group relations, such as segregation, tolerance,and integration models of majority-minority relations, participation, and coexistence appropriate for the twenty-first century illustrations of the coexistence model through examples of places where it is flourishing action steps for leaders and citizens to put the idea of coexistence into practice a range of research findings that help us determine what is effective in promoting coexistence In the pages of Celebrating Diversity, you can learn social skills for preventing conflict escalation, for finding areas of common interest, and for working cooperatively. As more of us become informed about alternatives to violence, hopefully we can find ways to bring peace to areas of unrest, such as Algeria, Ireland, Israel, Nigeria, Rwanda, Serbia, or the former Soviet Union.

Contents Introduction Chapter 1. Preparing for Life in a Pluralist World Introduction Purpose of This Book Focus of the Book's Contents Chapter 2. Three Patterns of Establishment-Minority Relations Four Causes of Conflict Asymmetric Power Arrangements Relating to the Strangers in Our Midst Tolerance and Integration Are Not Enough Chapter 3. Coexistence Some Philosophic-Historical Developments Recognizing a New Paradigm Some Coexistence Parameters Coexistence-Prompting Structures and Strategies Chapter 4. Creating Community Readiness for Coexistence Working on Our Own Feelings The Idea of Social Action Two Ways for Citizens to Take Action Professional Ways to Take Action Implications Chapter 5. Specific Efforts for Achieving Coexistence Goal Implementation in a Pluralist Society Educational Efforts for Coexistence Community-Wide Efforts for Coexistence Three Essential Processes Chapter 6. Coexistence Efforts Around the World The Challenge of Innovating World-Wide Examples of Coexistence Implications Chapter 7. From Doubts to Positive Findings Good Intentions Are Not Enough A Desired Mind-Set Helpful Research Findings Suggestions for Further Research Some Basic Findings Chapter 8. Implications A Review of Establishment-Minority Relations Participation and Coexistence A Final Note Index References