multiculturalism in vienna, in a lecture

This was the lecture:
MULTICULTURALISM
AS A MEANS OF PROMOTING PEACE

with:

Prof. Murat BELGE (Department of Comparative Literature, Bilgi
University, Istanbul) and
Dr. Rainer BAUBÖCK (Senior Researcher, Unit on Institutional
Change and European Integration, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften)

Moderator:
Dr. Dilek CINAR (Lecturer, Department of Political Science, University of
Vienna, External Research Affiliate, European Centre for Social Welfare
Policy and Research

on
Wednesday, February 1, 2006, 7 p.m.

As far as I know it was in the 70s in the USA, that some democrats have developed these ideas. At the beginning they were good ideas, first of all; the intention was good. It was an affirmation of living together with many cultures at the same time. And in the end of 70s there were some Republican people who were not were happy with this idea of multiculturalism and they had a conference with neoconservative people, one of them was Samuel Huntington.
In my view this term "multiculturalism" was invented for urban uses in Western countries with a high amount of migration. So it has nothing to do with Ottoman Empire. Because it was an empire and not a modern state and historically seen something else.
But multiculturalism has also nothing to do with national separatism, nobody has ever thought of a little Spain in the USA when these ideas were created, and i still don´t think that living together with many cultures should end in an national unity, these would be the opposite of what was intended. Every national unity fighting other national unity with a stupid pride, is not beautiful in my view.
But I know for german romantic thought was the modernity kind of traumatic. Strong religious thought and need to keep the own identity uninfluenced has forced to think people about culture like holy units, which mustn´t come together very close. So this is still the case here sometimes, I think. If you think the best way cultures living together is the way they don´t come together, so you miss the main idea about living together. It is still better, than a "staged" (mis en scene) "clash of civilisations". Actually everything is better than a war.

Multiculturalism is good for Vienna, because otherwise Vienna wouldn t be at the heart of Europe. Vienna is actually at the border of Europe to Balkan. Without the new EU countries Vienna wouldn´t be in a better situation, but many people on the street are thinking anything new or any change is always bad for Vienna.