Multiculturalism is a threat

Diversity isn8217;t dangerous because it breeds suicide bombers, but because the state depends on a tight consensus

There is an insuperable problem about introducing immigrants to British values. There are no British values. Nor are there any Serbian or Peruvian values. No nation has a monopoly on fairness and decency, justice and humanity. Some cultures cherish one kind of value more than others do8230; but there is nothing inherently Arab about hospitality, or inherently British about not throwing a hysterical fit8230;

It was one of the mighty achievements of the radical Enlightenment to reject the idea that virtue or vice depend on your ethnic background8230;

The basic moral values of the average Muslim dentist who migrates to Britain are much the same as those of a typical English-born plumber8230; They may have different customs and beliefs, but what is striking is the vast common ground between them on the issue of what it is for men and women to live well8230;

So why are so many of our politicians getting steamed up about the supposed dangers of multiculturalism? Shouldn8217;t they just accept that shared moral values run very deep in human beings, and that cultural differences are accordingly irrelevant? Not in the least. From the viewpoint of political power, culture is absolutely vital. So vital, indeed, that power cannot operate without it. It is culture, in the sense of the everyday habits and beliefs of a people, which beds power down, makes it appear natural and inevitable, turns it into spontaneous reflex and response.

Unless authority entwines itself with the roots of people8217;s experience and identity, it will remain too abstract and aloof to win their loyalty. If it is to secure their allegiance, power must become the invisible colour of everyday life itself. And this is what we know as culture. Culture is what keeps power in business8230;

It is easy to see why a diversity of cultures should confront power with a problem. If culture is about plurality, power is about unity. How can it sell itself simultaneously to a whole range of life forms without being fatally diluted? Multiculturalism is not a threat because it might breed suicide bombers. It is a threat because the kind of political state we have depends upon a tight cultural consensus in order to implant its materially divisive policies8230;

Excerpted from 8216;The Guardian8217;, February 21