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Syncretism is the practice of combining different beliefs and various schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, thus asserting an underlying unity and allowing for an inclusive approach to other faiths. Syncretism also occurs commonly in expressions of art and culture, known as eclecticism, as well as in politics, known as syncretic politics.
The melting pot is a monocultural metaphor for a heterogeneous society becoming more homogeneous, the different elements "melting together" with a common culture; an alternative being a homogeneous society becoming more heterogeneous through the influx of foreign elements with different cultural backgrounds, possessing the potential to create disharmony within the previous culture. It can also create a harmonious hybridized society known as cultural amalgamation. Historically, it is often used to describe the cultural integration of immigrants to the United States. A related concept has been defined as "cultural additivity."
Acculturation is a process of social, psychological, and cultural change that stems from the balancing of two cultures while adapting to the prevailing culture of the society. Acculturation is a process in which an individual adopts, acquires and adjusts to a new cultural environment as a result of being placed into a new culture, or when another culture is brought to someone. Individuals of a differing culture try to incorporate themselves into the new more prevalent culture by participating in aspects of the more prevalent culture, such as their traditions, but still hold onto their original cultural values and traditions. The effects of acculturation can be seen at multiple levels in both the devotee of the prevailing culture and those who are assimilating into the culture.
The term 'minority group' has different usages depending on the context. According to its common usage, a minority group can simply be understood in terms of demographic sizes within a population: i.e. a group in society with the least number of individuals is therefore the 'minority'. However, in terms of sociology, economics, and politics; a demographic which takes up the smallest fraction of the population is not necessarily the 'minority'. In the academic context, 'minority' and 'majority' groups are more appropriately understood in terms of hierarchical power structures. For example, in South Africa during Apartheid, white Europeans held virtually all social, economic, and political power over black Africans. For this reason, black Africans are the 'minority group', despite the fact that they outnumber white Europeans in South Africa. This is why academics more frequently use the term 'minority group' to refer to a category of people who experience relative disadvantage as compared to members of a dominant social group.
Cultural assimilation is the process in which a minority group or culture comes to resemble a society's majority group or assume the values, behaviors, and beliefs of another group whether fully or partially.
Monoculturalism is the policy or process of supporting, advocating, or allowing the expression of the culture of a single social or ethnic group. It generally stems from beliefs within the dominant group that their cultural practices are superior to those of minority groups and is similar to the concept of ethnocentrism which involves judging another culture, based on the values and standards of one's own culture. It may also involve the process of assimilation whereby other ethnic groups are expected to adopt the culture and practices of the dominant ethnic group. Monoculturalism, in the context of cultural diversity, is the opposite of multiculturalism.
In political science, minoritarianism is a neologism for a political structure or process in which a minority group of a population has a certain degree of primacy in that entity's decision making. Minoritarianism may be contrasted with majoritarianism, with legislative power being held or controlled by a minority group rather than the majority.
Forced assimilation is an involuntary process of cultural assimilation of religious or ethnic minority groups during which they are forced to adopt language, national identity, norms, mores, customs, traditions, values, mentality, perceptions, way of life, and often religion and ideology of established and generally larger community belonging to dominant culture by government. Also enforcement of a new language in legislation, education, literature, worshiping counts as forced assimilation. Unlike ethnic cleansing, the local population is not outright destroyed and may or may not be forced to leave a certain area. Instead the assimilation of the population is made mandatory. This is also called mandatory assimilation by scholars who study genocide and nationalism. Mandatory assimilation has sometimes been made a policy of new or contested nations, often during or in the aftermath of a war. Some examples are both the German and French forced assimilation in the provinces Alsace and Lorraine, and some decades after the Swedish conquests of the Danish provinces Scania, Blekinge and Halland the local population was submitted to forced assimilation, or even the forced assimilation of ethnic Teochews in Bangkok by the Siam government during World War I until the 1973 uprising.
Jewish assimilation refers either to the gradual cultural assimilation and social integration of Jews in their surrounding culture or to an ideological program in the age of emancipation promoting conformity as a potential solution to historic Jewish marginalization.
An ethnoreligious group is a grouping of people who are unified by a common religious and ethnic background.
Religion in Algeria is dominated by Muslims, with nearly ninety-eight of the population adhering to Sunni Islam of the Maliki school of jurisprudence, as of 2020. The remainder include other Islamic schools and branches, Christian denominations, Baháʼís and Jews. Estimates of the Christian population range from 71,000 to 200,000. The latest available estimates suggest a Baháʼí population of 3,300, and a Jewish community of less than 200 people.
Integrative communication theory is a theory of cross-cultural adaptation proposed by Young Yun Kim. The first widely published version of Kim's theory is found in the last three chapters of a textbook authored by William Gudykunst with Young Yun Kim as second author. See acculturation and assimilation.
Cultural competency training is an instruction to achieve cultural competence and the ability to appreciate and interpret accurately other cultures. In an increasingly globalised world, training in cultural sensitivity to others' cultural identities and how to achieve cultural competence is being practised in the workplace, particularly in healthcare, schools and in other settings.
The interactive acculturation model (IAM) seeks to integrate within a common theoretical framework the following components of immigrants and host community relations in multicultural settings:
- acculturation orientations adopted by immigrant groups in the host community;
- acculturation orientations adopted by the host community towards special groups of immigrants;
- interpersonal and intergroup relational outcomes that are the product of combinations of immigrant and host community acculturation orientations.
A dominant culture is a cultural practice that is dominant within a particular political, social or economic entity, in which multiple cultures co-exist. It may refer to a language, religion/ritual, social value and/or social custom. These features are often a norm for an entire society. An individual achieves dominance by being perceived as pertaining to a majority of the population and having a significant presence in institutions relating to communication, education, artistic expression, law, government and business. The concept of "dominant culture" is generally used in academic discourse in fields such as communication, sociology, anthropology and cultural studies.
Christian privilege is a social advantage that is bestowed upon Christians in any historically Christian society. This arises out of the presumption that Christian belief is a social norm, that leads to the marginalization of the nonreligious and members of other religions through institutional religious discrimination or religious persecution. Christian privilege can also lead to the neglect of outsiders' cultural heritage and religious practices.
Bicultural identity is the condition of being oneself regarding the combination of two cultures. The term can also be defined as biculturalism, which is the presence of two different cultures in the same country or region. As a general term, culture involves the behaviors and belief characteristics of a particular social, ethnic, or age group. Within culture, we have cultural effects, which are the shared behaviors and customs we learn from the institutions around us. An example of a cultural effect would be how an individual's personality is strongly influenced by the biological and social norms he is exposed to. Another cultural effect would be that in some societies it would be more acceptable to dress or act in a certain way.
Postmodern religion is any type of religion that is influenced by postmodernism and postmodern philosophies. Examples of religions that may be interpreted using postmodern philosophy include Postmodern Christianity, Postmodern Neopaganism, and Postmodern Buddhism. Postmodern religion is not an attempt to banish religion from the public sphere; rather, it is a philosophical approach to religion that critically considers orthodox assumptions. Postmodern religious systems of thought view realities as plural, subjective, and dependent on the individual's worldview. Postmodern interpretations of religion acknowledge and value a multiplicity of diverse interpretations of truth, being, and ways of seeing. There is a rejection of sharp distinctions and global or dominant metanarratives in postmodern religion, and this reflects one of the core principles of postmodern philosophy. A postmodern interpretation of religion emphasises the key point that religious truth is highly individualistic, subjective, and resides within the individual.
Malayisation or Malayization is a process of assimilation and acculturation, that involves acquisition or imposition of elements of Malay culture, in particular, Islam and the Malay language, as experienced by non-Malay populations of territories fully controlled or partially influenced by historical Malay sultanates and modern Malay-speaking countries. It is often described as a process of civilisational expansion, drawing a wide range of indigenous peoples into the Muslim, Malay-speaking polities of Maritime Southeast Asia. Examples of Malayisation have occurred throughout Asia including in Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Sri Lanka.
Christian persecution complex is the belief, attitude, or world view that Christian values and Christians are being oppressed by social groups and governments in the West. This belief is promoted by certain American Protestant churches, and some Christian- or Bible-based groups in Europe. It has been called the "Evangelical", "American Christian" or "Christian right" persecution complex.
References
- 1 2 Connor, Phillip Carey (June 2010). A theory of immigrant religious adaptation: disruption, assimilation, and facilitation (PhD dissertation). Department of Sociology, Princeton University. UMI Number 3410990 – via ProQuest.
- ↑ Yang, Fenggang; Ebaugh, Helen Rose (September 2001). "Religion and ethnicity among new immigrants: the impact of majority/minority status in home and host countries". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion . 40 (3): 367–378. doi:10.1111/0021-8294.00063.
- 1 2 LeMay, Alec (October 15, 2010). "Religious domestication: how persecution is re-packaged in present-day Japan" (PDF). Tokyo: Graduate Program in Area Studies, Graduate School of Global Studies, Sophia University. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-09-06. Retrieved 2017-09-05.
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