The problem of inter-ethnic relations, the ability of people of different ethnic and religious backgrounds to coexist peacefully within the same state, the ability to be different, but at the same time equal to each other, are one of the main problems that concern modern society.
Currently, there are more than 2,000 nations living in 197 states in the world.
Mankind will live in the near future in the conditions of multi-ethnic countries, as migration processes intensify every year. New territorial entities are emerging.
Today, the national problem has acquired global significance. Together with the struggle against the threat of nuclear war and environmental protection, it has become one of the most important issues on a global scale. The most acute ethnic conflicts exist in Angola, Nigeria, Iraq, Ukraine. Nationalist ideas penetrated the population of many countries of the world. In various forms, the ethnic question comes to the forefront of the social life of France, Great Britain, Belgium, Spain, and Canada.
Among scholars there is an opinion that it was nationalism at the end of the 20th century that almost brought mankind to the brink of a new catastrophe.
The problem of interethnic relations is also very relevant in the United States, one of the largest multinational states of the world, where about 106 ethnic groups live. The national question in the history of this country has always been one of the main ones. The United States is a country of immigrants, that is what Roosevelt called it, and Kennedy John wrote the book The Nation of Immigrants.
The US experience in international relations is unique. Due to the constant influx of population as a result of resettlement, people of different nationalities are joining the country together with their traditions, culture, language and acute ethnic problems. As a result of the mixing of the racially and ethnically motley population, the process of formation of the American people took place, which received a very definite name - the "smelting pot of nations." This model of interethnic development of society will be discussed in the article.
Definition of a concept
The very concept of a "melting pot" or "melting pot" is a translation from English of the expression melting pot. This is a model of the ethnic development of society, which is promoted in American culture. The dominance of this thought is connected with the ideals of the idea of a free democratic society in which people quietly get along with racially and ethnically different neighbors.
This concept is very similar to the policy of multiculturalism.
In accordance with the theory of the "melting pot", the formation of the American nation was to go according to the formula of mixing or fusion of all peoples. In this case, both cultural and biological fusion (mixing) was assumed. This theory denied the existence of any social, ethnic or national conflicts in society. The famous American researcher Mann A. believed that the term melting pot in the United States became the national symbol of the 20th century.
Origin of the concept
The concept itself was formulated in a play by the British playwright and journalist Zanguill Israel, who very often visited the United States and knew the life, customs and culture of the country. The essence of the literary work was that in the United States there was a merger or mixing of different peoples and cultures, as a result of which a single American nation was formed. The play was called The Melting Pot. This expression became very popular first in American culture, and then throughout the world. A little later, a whole concept of the development of a society of the same name was formed.
The essence of the concept is also borrowed from the play, where the main character, looking from the ship that arrived at the port of New York, exclaimed that America is the greatest cauldron in which all the peoples of Europe are remelted . And that is precisely how the Almighty created the American nation.
The idea of merging ethnic groups was picked up by many authors who continued to formulate and develop the essence of the newfound concept of the formation of the national identity of the American people.
History of the Theory of the Merger of Nations
The history of the merging of peoples from different countries into one common ethnic group or culture was of interest to scientists and writers even before the appearance of the play Melting Pot. Essays on this topic and descriptions of the American people as a single nation can be traced back to the authors, historians and philosophers in the XVIII century. For example, Payne Thomas, an Anglo-American philosopher and writer, in his book Common Sense describes Americans as a single people, formed from immigrants from Europe who were persecuted there because of their ideas of religious and civil freedom.
But the very first author to use the expression “melting pot” to describe the American people and society was Frenchman John Krevker, who in his Letters to the American Farmer discussed who the American is. He wrote that in America, all nationalities are mixed into a new race that will one day change the whole world.
History of the concept in the 19th century
The concept gained the greatest popularity in the 19th century. She was supported by the outstanding intellectual of that era, Emerson Ralph.
Roosevelt Theodore in his four-volume work “Conquest of the West” describes the colonization of the West, praises the American power that he saw in unity. And in conclusion, he writes that American individualism was tempered precisely by the power of unity.
One of the fundamental roles in the study of the concept is occupied by the work of historian Turner, “Significance and Frontiers in American History,” in which he pays great attention to the geographical factor. The "melting pot" in his scientific work is a process of Americanization. According to his theory, all immigrants were Americanized in the main areas. In addition, he believed that the American identity was not borrowed from Europe, that it arose as a result of the continuous movement of settlements to the West. He claimed that at first the frontier of Europe was the Atlantic coast, but with the advancement of the continent there was a gradual removal from European influence and the development of the nation along the American lines.
Criticism of the theory
The theory of the merger of nations was perceived negatively by supporters of cultural pluralism (they advocate the preservation of ethnic and cultural traditions as part of a national community). Pluralists criticized discrimination and abuse of minority rights, which included representatives of the yellow and black races in the United States.
If in the concept of a “melting pot” minorities are secondary and should gradually disappear, then pluralists consider minorities to be the main element in the structure of society, and they must develop and maintain their identity and culture.
The concept of cultural pluralism, theoretically took shape in the 20s of the XX century. The basic doctrines of the theory were set forth in the scientific work of the American philosopher Cullen G., Democracy Against the Melting Pot, in which he wrote that one can change the style of clothing, religion, worldview, but one cannot change its origin. It is the pluralists who believe that ethnic groups do not unite culture and language, but origin, and therefore American society, in their opinion, is a salad bowl in which different cultures coexist peacefully, while maintaining their identity.
The advantages and disadvantages of the theory
Among the advantages of this theory can be called the fact that it created a favorable social atmosphere, minimized the risks of terrorist attacks and other outbursts of violence.
This concept made it possible to increase the country's productive forces, creating the term American people or American nation, which was beneficial for the country's economy at that time.
This theory intensified the process of assimilation of other peoples, erasing the boundaries and contradictions between cultures. At the same time, there was an active process of formation and enrichment of American culture.
Among the shortcomings can be distinguished too idealistic orientation of this concept. In addition, she assumed strict assimilation, which, as practice has shown, was not included in the plans of immigrants.
The theory could not hold out for a long time, as evidenced by the presence of a number of national communities, which, considering themselves US citizens, remain Mexicans, Jews, Ukrainians, Chinese, Arabs, and so on. Most likely, the theory could not reflect the whole variety of those processes that took place in the society of a multinational country.
This was the case with the fusion of nations in the United States. What happened in Latin America?
The concept of a "melting pot" in Latin America
Latin American nations began to take shape in the 19th century. They were formed from different peoples and ethnic groups living within the borders of a state. Like in the USA, a "melting pot" operated here, in which nations and races mixed: Indians, immigrants from Portugal, Spain and other European countries, Negroes, Arabs, immigrants from Asia.
Society in these countries was formed under the influence of Portuguese and Spanish customs; in the system of relations, there was always a hierarchy between people. Everyone knew their place, hence the penchant for authoritarian regimes.
Has the concept of a "melting pot" in Latin America worked or not?
In the essay, in journalistic literature and even scientific works, some scholars believe that not. The process of mixing peoples and ethnic groups was promoted by linguistic unity (most countries speak Spanish, only Brazil in Portuguese), common religious affiliation (Catholicism), social similarity, common colonial past for countries, but differences in behavior, customs, traditions were too obvious, the mentality between European migrants, descendants of Indians and immigrants from Africa.
And, despite the so-called Latin American fraternity, mistrust and rivalry are visible among the countries of the continent. A vivid example is Hispanic Argentina and Portuguese-speaking Brazil. If the former is inhabited by immigrants from European countries, the latter has more African roots in the ethnic composition of the population, and it was Brazil in the 16th and 18th centuries that hundreds of thousands of slaves were brought from the African continent. And it is difficult to expect that these two countries in the future will be able to form a single state.
European Melting Crucible
If nothing changes, in the near future, Europe will begin to resemble New York or some Latin American states that refute the concept of mixing or fusion of nations. For example, in New York, many cultures coexist: Chinese and Koreans, Pakistanis and Puerto Ricans, Mexicans and Russians. Some ethnic groups merged, for example, Irish and Spaniards, Poles and Jews, others retained their individuality: they live in their neighborhoods, speak their own language and follow their traditions. But they all obey the general laws and use standard official state English in public places.
The melting pot concept did not work either in the United States or in Latin America. Will this principle work in Europe, or will it resemble New York? The answer to this question mankind will know in the very near future.