This document discusses multiculturalism at both the societal and individual level. At the societal level, it examines a country's policies toward cultural diversity, levels of immigration, and attitudes toward different cultures. For individuals, it looks at personal acceptance of diversity and perceptions of living in a tolerant multicultural environment. The document reports on research findings about how societal and individual multiculturalism impact both host nationals and ethnic minorities. It concludes that fully understanding multiculturalism requires examining how individuals experience cultural diversity within the context of their society's approaches and attitudes.

1. Why Multiculturalism Matters:
Perceptions and Policies
Dr Jaimee Stuart
Centre for Longitudinal Research
University of Auckland

2. Defining Multiculturalism
• Descriptive: Living in a society with many
different ethnic communities - a culturally
diversity context
• Ideological: An approach to dealing with
cultural diversity that endorses tolerance,
equality, and pluralism

3. Levels of Multiculturalism
• The societal policies and attitudes towards
cultural diversity
– Societal Level
• A person’s thoughts and feelings / perceptions
of the amount of tolerance of cultural
diversity
– Individual Level

4. Multiculturalism: Societal
• Policies
• Percentage of immigrants / cultural
homogeneity
• Linguistic diversity
• Multicultural ideologies
– Negative and positive attitudes towards
immigrants

5. Societal Multiculturalism in NZ
• NZ is demographically multicultural
– Although multiculturalism is not articulated in law
• New Zealanders endorse a multicultural
ideology
– Although endorsements tend to be symbolic
– Some types of cultural diversity are preferred over
others

6. Findings
• How do societal levels of multiculturalism
impact on people?
– Host nationals
– Ethnic minorities

7. Multiculturalism: Individual Level
• Personal acceptance of cultural diversity
– Attitudes towards integration
• Perceptions that the environment you live in is
accepting / tolerant
– Subjective multiculturalism

8. Findings
• How does personal acceptance of diversity
and the perception of living in a tolerant,
multicultural society impact on people?
– Host nationals
– Ethnic minorities

9. Summary
• Multiculturalism is multifaceted, examining
the impacts at one level does not give a
picture of the lived experience of cultural
diversity
• Multiculturalism does not exist “out there”,
but rather is dynamically constituted by
individuals within a society

10. • “I think another cool thing was meeting
people from different backgrounds. Not just
Kiwis but other cultures... that makes things
more interesting, you know, the
multiculturalism in New Zealand. And I think
being open to other cultures and accepting. I
don’t think you find that a lot in other
countries”

11. Thank You
Contact: j.stuart@auckland.ac.nz