Acculturation styles and the crossroads of cultural diversity

Abstract

Cultural Diversity and its political management has become the central topic of our time. This is related to the fact that in advanced modern societies, submerged in the radicalization and intensification of the processes of globalization, we generate conditions of constituent ethno-cultural pluralism (with a diversity of styles and acculturation strategies and new modalities of intercultural awareness), which challenge the management guidelines of the typical diversities of previous societies. The article deals with the main acculturation styles that prevail in such contexts, with special reference to Spanish society: The plurality of present styles; the predominance of the preference towards integrating strategies; the minority character of assimilationism; and the existence of a historical increase of integrationism trend or evolution. Finally, after stating various theoretical models of political management of diversity we conclude with a defence of those contexts of constitutive pluralism, in favour of pragmatic models.