Lithuania towards a multicultural society: experience, issues, and perspectives

• Gražulis, Vladimiras
• Mockienė, Liudmila
• Sudnickas, Tadas
• Dačiulytė, Rūta

ENThe interest of politicians, academics, media representatives and other interested stakeholders in the issues of multiculturalism has grown significantly in recent decades worldwide. Some of the reasons for this are the global processes specific to these times: the growth of international migration flows and the constant expansion of social networks via the Internet. As a result, a multicultural environment has emerged or is still developing in most countries. In the context of historical development, it must be noted that manifestations of multiculturalism can be observed in early civilizations. For example, such megapolises as the Syrian capital of Damascus (more than 7,000 years old), or Persepolis (founded in 518 BC), the ancient capital of Persia (present-day Iran), had long been the centres of numerous cultures due to their geographical location. Similar to ancient Egypt, the Greek civilization, and the Roman Empire, these cities left traces in the formation of multicultural societies. It has been noted that the flourishing of various countries (e.g., the UK, USA, Canada, etc.) in the Middle Ages and especially during recent centuries is inseparable from the development of multicultural processes in these societies. The authors of this volume agree with other scholars, such as Panic Panayi (2009), who are convinced that before discussing the topic of multiculturalism it is useful to establish: 1) what impact this process has had on societies; and 2) how the historical factor can influence the development of multicultural processes in modern society. The perception of the intercultural differences of various ethnic groups of modern society has been formed by several generations of scientists who have addressed this issue.The largest contributions were made by Florence R. Kluckhohn and Fred L. Strodtbeck (1961), Andre Laurent (1983), Geert J. Hofstede (1980, 1988, 1991), John W. Berry (1984, 1997), Fons Trompenaars (1994), Charles Hampden-Turner (1991), Farid Elashmawi and Philip R. Harris (1993), Diane L. Adams (1995), Will Kymlicka. (1995), Christopher A. Bartlett and Sumantra Ghoshal (1998), Manuel London and Valerie I. Sessa (1999), Nancy J. Adler (2002), etc. It is anticipated that in the near historical perspective, culturally monogamous states will be rare, while life in a society dominated by cultural diversity or “plural societies” (Berry, 1997) will become common. Foreign nationals who come to other countries and seek to establish themselves experience societal pressure to manage their lives in accordance with the existing local rights and norms, to get acquainted with the cultural traditions of the recipient country, and to communicate in the state language (UNESCO, 1985; Kymlicka, 1995). However, it must be noted that the collision of different cultures sometimes provokes various conflict situations, inconsistency, and opposing stereotypes, which is why foreigners often experience negative feelings in the face of a new cultural and social environment, lose self-control, and, ultimately, experience culture shock and often have to deal with social and economic problems due to poorly executed or even entirely unsuccessful attempts to adapt. Failure of the society to respond to new challenges in due time often leads to hindrances in the development of multiculturalism, which are reflected in a preconceived mistrust towards other nationals or unjustifiable reproaches and even prejudices against them.Ursula Liebsch and Nijolė Petkevičiūtė (2005) view such preconceptions as the feelings of irrationality, dislike or even hatred, which are sometimes based on negative personal experiences or lack of knowledge about the subject. A. C. Buddy Krizan et al. (2007) share a similar view, and agree that the shortage of knowledge about cultural diversity and inadequate perception of other cultures can result in negative stereotypes; thus, individuals tend to be affected by the principle that “they” are different from “us”. With time, such phenomena make it clear that the recipient country should show understanding, sensitivity and tolerance not only to the ethnic groups that have been established in the country but also to newly arriving foreign nationals, especially when their attitudes and values are involved. For the reasons mentioned above, any rational debate on cultural diversity becomes very complex; therefore, the challenges faced by a multinational society often become a delicate subject for researchers. G. J. Hofstede (1980) notes that understanding people means understanding their origins, which helps to evaluate their present behaviour and foresee their future behaviour. At the same time, openness and flexibility of the society in response to constantly emerging challenges have been notable recently (Adams, 1995; Adler, 2002). In this case, it is important for a person not only to acquire the necessary knowledge in the formal education process and thus form positive attitudes towards foreign nationals, but also to realize that the acquired knowledge is not static and therefore requires continuous development of the acquired skills in practical work. [Extract, p. 9-10]

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