In today's world, many factors influence the process of human development. One such factor at the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries was multiculturalism, as migration became a widespread phenomenon. In modern times, society is diverse and fragmented culturally and ethnically, and therefore the postmodern state of culture corresponds to the multicultural state of society. Multiculturalism emerged as a challenge to the process of globalisation in terms of the fate of national cultures, with both positive and negative aspects of this cultural phenomenon being highlighted.
Multiculturalism is a sociocultural phenomenon that represents a dialogue between different cultures within a single ethnic group. The issue of multicultural discourse is relevant for all countries of the world. Multiculturalism is a specific theory and practice of cultural contacts that has developed in the postmodern era, adequately responding to the demands of globalisation and based on postmodern social theory. The main task of human development in a multicultural society is to preserve the mother culture and prevent the ethnic culture from being absorbed by the culture of migrants.
The cultural theory of multiculturalism has become an expression of the postmodernist attitude towards the diversity of cultures and peoples, towards the ethnic uniqueness of cultures, which has contributed to the formation of a renewed postmodernist interpretation of cultural and historical typologies. Let us turn to the concept of ‘multiculturalism.’ Multiculturalism as a phenomenon of modern society is a social phenomenon in which different cultures, opposed to the mother, unified national culture, are revealed in the conditions of a separate region. The concept of ‘multiculturalism’ is used in scientific literature in three main contexts: demographic (ethnocultural), ideological (value-normative orientation), and political (as a method of governance, the direction of official state policy). Multiculturalism, which is demographic in nature, reflects the sociological essence of an ethnic group, as it is linked to the characteristics of a society's development and its traditions.
In a political context, multiculturalism is seen as a way of governing society. It was in this context that the concept originated in Canada in the 1960s to describe the racial, religious and ethnocultural diversity of the country's population. The term was officially recognised in 1971. Canada developed the principles of multiculturalism, which were based on a positive attitude towards ethnocultural differences, equality, unity, and the political manageability of all cultures limited to a specific territory.
Multiculturalism as an ideology is based on the value-normative orientations of society and is dual in nature. This is due to the fact that, on the one hand, this phenomenon allows us to study cultural differences and apply them wisely in our own practice; this refers to intercultural dialogue, which makes it possible to see the world from different perspectives. On the other hand, it is about assimilation, when the culture of immigrants absorbs and displaces the main, mother culture of a given state. Therefore, the main task of an ethnic group in which representatives of different cultures are present is to preserve its own mentality while engaging in intercultural communication.
The sociocultural space is like a mosaic made up of small pieces. In a multicultural environment, it is necessary to protect cultural diversity, but also to control the relationship between minority cultures and the dominant culture, i.e. to ensure intercultural dialogue. Multiculturalism as a sociocultural phenomenon opens up opportunities for intercultural communication within the structure of a single state. Recognition of minority cultures demonstrates examples of the exchange of experience, cultural traditions, overcoming language barriers, etc.
Intercultural dialogue has a positive effect on the development of the dominant culture, enriching it with cultural innovations that are adapted to the traditions of the mother culture, resulting in the emergence of completely new cultural products. In order to obtain such original cultural products of a particular ethnic group, it is necessary to educate people who are capable of acculturation while preserving their own mentality. Such processes are possible with the proper organisation of the process of educating a person of culture. Thus, it can be argued that a new person absorbs the models of socio-cultural behaviour that surround them.
In the process of educating a citizen of a multicultural society, it is necessary to consider multiculturalism as an ideology from the standpoint of value-normative orientations. Let us consider the essence of the value-normative orientations of modern man by analysing the basic concepts. Values are an indicator of the development of a cultured person, determining the highest level of regulation of an individual's social behaviour; they are the most important components of human culture. It will be relevant to identify ethnic values, which are considered as a set of cultural traditions of an ethnic group.
Orientation is a process of personal development in which the formation, change, and integration of its components lead to greater integrity in stages. The accumulation of components of development, their preservation, enrichment and reorganisation, the division of their functions, hierarchy and integration ensure the emergence of new structural formations and new functions of the value Image of the world, Image of the ‘I’, Image of the future. Value orientations are the evaluative attitude of an individual (group) towards the totality of material and spiritual goods, which are regarded as objects (or their properties), goals and means for satisfying the needs of the individual (group). They are expressed in ideals, personal meaning of life and manifested in the social behaviour of an individual (group).
Orientations reflect the subject's attitude to the conditions of their existence as a result of a conscious, evaluative choice of vitally important subjects and objects. The totality of material and spiritual goods is the basis for the existence of certain value systems. Thus, from an anthropological point of view, value orientations are the most important component of an individual's consciousness, significantly influencing their perception of the environment, their attitude towards society and social groups, and their self-image. As an element of the structure of the individual, they reflect their inner readiness to take action to satisfy their needs and goals, and give direction to their behaviour in all spheres of activity.
Value orientations are an indicator of the interests, needs, and demands of the individual, their social position, and level of spiritual development. In fact, the definition of ‘value’ is ambiguous, with more than a hundred variations. This is justified by considering values from the perspective of different approaches. For example, in the concept of multicultural education, we can identify the following values: universal human values (faith, hope, love, friendship, generosity); civic values (freedom, equality); family values (love for children, care for parents).
The concept of cultural value in postmodern culture is quite ambiguous. Cultural values are material objects and spiritual principles that are important to a particular individual, viewed from the perspective of satisfying their needs and interests. Cultural values can be of the following types: worldview-philosophical, or meaningful: nature and cosmos, eternity and time, hell and paradise, etc.; aesthetic: the beautiful, the tragic, the sublime, the cosmic, beauty, harmony, style, etc.; moral: mercy, dignity, humanity, justice, goodness, love, respect for elders; religious: faith, Holy Scripture, patience, aspiration, love (for God, for one's neighbour), etc.; political: legality, peace, the Constitution, civil liberties, etc.; social: family, diligence, enterprise, patriotism, equality, etc.; vital: life, well-being, health, safety, etc. Thus, cultural values are moral and aesthetic ideals, norms and patterns of human behaviour, languages, folklore, arts and crafts, products of culture and art, results and methods of research into cultural activity.
In other words, these are all products of culture resulting from human activity that have socio-cultural significance. For example, Schwartz S. argues that "prevailing cultural value orientations are ideals. As such, they promote interconnection between different aspects of culture. Those aspects of culture that are incompatible with them are likely to provoke tension, criticism and pressure to change.
Cultures, of course, are not completely harmonious. Subgroups within societies profess conflicting values. The dominant cultural orientation changes in response to shifts in power between these subgroups. But this change is slow. The adaptation of societies to epidemics, technological development, increased prosperity, contact with other cultures, wars, and other exogenous factors leads to changes in the value orientations of a culture‘ (’Cultural Value Orientations: The Nature and Consequences of National Differences," page 39, Schwartz S.) As we can see, Schwartz considers different cultural minorities within the parent culture to be subgroups.
Cultural values within a single dominant culture can vary, so the government's task is to smooth out the boundaries between intracultural subgroups in order to minimise conflicts. In the context of multiculturalism, it is necessary to form a person of culture, a creative personality who is capable of active life in a multinational society, endowed with a developed sense of tolerance towards other cultures, the ability to live in peace and harmony with people of different nationalities, beliefs and races. Multiculturalism is based on humanism, so its meaning lies in its attitude towards people as the main social asset. Among the main principles of multiculturalism, the following can be highlighted: cultural appropriateness; taking into account the national traditions and worldviews of all members of society; reliance on a strategy of dialogue; respect for national identities; rejection of extremism and intolerance; criticism of ethnocultural exclusivity.
Among the current approaches to multiculturalism, the following can be distinguished: anthropological, environmental (the environment is understood as a system of spatial-temporal, emotional and social relations), systemic, and activity-based. Each of these approaches allows us to consider the characteristics of human cultural development in a multicultural society. It is appropriate to consider these approaches from the perspective of activity theory, personality theory, and systems theory. The process of human development in a multicultural environment is dialogical and humanistic in nature.
The essence of the concept is that a revolutionary change is taking place in the world in terms of the attitude towards the individual as an object of education – from an educated person to a person of culture who combines different, irreducible cultures in their thinking and activities. The concept of intercultural dialogue envisages human development through the continuity of different civilisations and the dialogical study of each of them. At the same time, it is proposed to identify cross-cutting issues around which a special intercultural dialogue can arise, which should be enriched throughout human life. Thus, the postmodern model of creativity has become a convenient option for preserving and innovatively rethinking the cultural heritage of nations in a multicultural society, associated with a mosaic, a collage, demonstrating the diversity of worldviews.
Thus, multiculturalism as a phenomenon of postmodern culture is contradictory in nature; as a political and ideological construct, it is not supported by postmodernist theory. Ideological imbalance, a crisis of values, religious and ethnic extremism, growing conflict, an intergenerational worldview gap, and a lack of social solidarity necessitate the development of a specific cultural model that would contribute to the formation of national identity and stable civic qualities of the individual. The formation of a person's worldview in a multicultural society remains a promising area of research.