This study aims to examine the socio-political meanings of multicultural democracy and to establish the theoretical foundation of multicultural democracy. Multicultural democracy incorporates socio-economic, cultural, and political diversity and goes ...
This study aims to examine the socio-political meanings of multicultural democracy and to establish the theoretical foundation of multicultural democracy. Multicultural democracy incorporates socio-economic, cultural, and political diversity and goes beyond current conceptions of democracy. It begins by asking these critical questions: Who is and is not participating in democracy and on whose terms? And how wide is the path to participation? These questions serve as a foundation for exploring multicultural democracy. Above all, multicultural democracy aims to construct the common world through the politicization of difference and agonistic diversity.
For this purpose, this study tries to make 'new' multiculturalism by connecting democracy with republicanism based on the concept of public sphere(common world). The Multicultural democracy argues that citizens can establish self-identities during participating political communications and can achieve new identities through a formation of common-world. The public sphere is created through minority(=outsider=immigrant)'s political participation and it provide abundant basis for the democratic advancement and the new meaning of community.
Therefore multicultural democracy should consider the connection between the political participation through public sphere and the democratic system. The theoretical examination of multicultural democracy and republicanism is based on H. Arendt, C. Mouffe and M. Foucault, respectively. The various and heterogeneous scholars(A. Giddens, J. Deleuze, J. Ranciere, J. Agamben, et al.) provides theoretical resources and abundant ideas for this study.
In chapter 3, I consider tried to get synthetic understanding of the reconception of practice and structure, the dualism of subject/structure(rule) based on Giddens' Structuration theory. Especially, I focus on the role of the practice that performs for the reproduction and change of society. In this respect, this study emphasizes on the effect of the minority's political subjectivization, the politics of 'becoming' and human right, especially. Arendt's 'A right to have rights' as universal human rights aims to connect democratic participation with universal rights. The universality of human rights could be in concord with socio-political particularities. This study argues that human rights are comprehended not as naturally given but socio-politically constructed and an appropriate account of human rights across socio-political and cultural borders could be justified.
In chapter 4, I try to analyze and expand the meaning of governmentality from Foucault and the modernization of Confucianism and traditional values. As Foucault's later concerns, governmentality should be understood as more extended and refined perspective about the many ways we are constituted as a subject and the various ways to transgress its limit. Governmentality aims to maintain and manage such difficulties and complex makeup of the governed. Governmentality as a new mode of power deployment enables us to seek the new political and ethnical subjectivity(and subjectivization) in multicultural age. Especially, this study considers the political implication of Kongron(public opinion) politics, the political ideal of Chosun dynasty in the Multicultural age. The political communication and its mechanism in Kongron is interlocked with the governmentality(Foucault' idea). For this purpose, this paper explains the radicalization of 'Harmonious but not Uniform(和而不同)' and suggests Kongron politics help us to achieve the harmony of difference and diversity. Most of all, the modernization of Confucian governmentality will help citizens develop their participational power and multicultural virtues.
In chapter 5-1, I examine Foucault's discursive theory. The discursive formation take shape as processes within the continuities of discursive practices, governmental operations and technologies of the self. The discursive formation should not be understood as stability or sameness over time, but as the contingent relations between successive social formations. Discursive practices which have happened in particular spaces and event as socially constructed over time enable us to reconstruct the current formation. In this respect, this study explains and analyses the function and result of discourses on ‘multicultural Society’.
In chapter 5-2, I discuss the ‘Republican patriotism’ as convincing propositions for a democratic identity in the Multicultural age. The ‘political culture’ proposed by ‘Republican patriotism’ as an essential concept includes transformation and redefinition of 'demos'. And then this study suggests the valid way of building a democratic identity in Korea. This process has been heatedly contested political process with internally antagonistic dimension constitutive of 'the political', the expression of conflict and group identities and the passion for community. Republican patriotism takes a very important role for the formation and an expansion of a ‘collective identity’ in a post-morden national society. For ‘our’ future we should make an art of shifting our perception and strong prejudice. The most important thing is the communication between internal homogeneous cultures and a recognition of external ‘otherness’ and differences, especially the self as a ‘hetero-construct’. This position could be achieved if the illusion of homogeneity were cleared away.
With the Neo-liberalism's domination, many social groups seek their interests in a contemporary Korean society and the Korean society as the community is nearly broken. Besides, aggregative democracy and consumer-citizen democracy dominate the political sphere. Against this current, we have to stress not only on 'right' but also on 'civic virtues' in the citizenship of the Korean. In chapter 5-3, I examine the political potential of multicultural citizen and the cultivation of widespread civic virtue : normative and constituent power, freedom as the capacity to begin, public deliberation, decision-making power, popular sovereignty. The multicultural democracy argues that free and equal citizens with equal rights must participate in the law enactment that symbolizes a fair consensus of political community based on agonistic democracy
In chapter 5-4, I propose the civic economy against neo-liberal polarization economy today. Because the cultivation of multicultural civic virtue is required for economical environment. The main features of a neo-republican civic economy will preserve the market, while constraining it to serve public purposes, and promote what John Rawls calls a "property-owning democracy." To accomplish these ends, a civic economy is likely to concern itself with the character of work and workplace, to take steps to preserve and protect the sense of community or publicity, and to provide some kind of "social" or "civic" minimum of support to all citizens with respect the self-governing citizenship.