title: Chess (musical)

text: In the deciding game of the match, with the score tied at five games all, Svetlana castigates Anatoly for wallowing in the crowd's empty praise and Florence expresses similar annoyance with him for casting aside his ideals; regardless, Anatoly achieves a superb victory against Viigand ("Endgame"). Later, Florence confesses her feelings that he should return to his family in the Soviet Union. The pair reflects on the conclusion of their romance ("You and I: Reprise"). Walter later approaches Florence with the news that Anatoly has defected back to the USSR, meaning that her father will certainly be released. He startlingly admits, however, that no one actually knows if her father is still alive. Florence breaks down, realising that she too has been used, and she sadly mirrors Anatoly's earlier sentiment that her only borders lie around her heart ("Anthem: Reprise").


title: Chess (musical)

text: After the West End production, the creative team decided to reimagine the show from the top down, leading to a second major stage version of the musical intended for American audiences, with considerable differences from the British version in both plot and music. Trevor Nunn brought in playwright Richard Nelson to recreate the musical as a straightforward "book show" for Broadway audiences. Nunn brought in new, younger principals after he disqualified Paige from the role of Florence by insisting Nelson recreate the character as an American. The story changed drastically, with different settings, characters, and many different plot elements, although the basic plot remained the same. Benny Andersson told "Variety": "The main difference between London and here is that in London there is only about two or three minutes of spoken dialog. Here, in order to clarify some points, it is almost one-third dialog". The score was reordered, and comparisons of the Broadway cast recording and the original concept album reveal the dramatic extent of the changes. Robin Wagner designed a new set, which featured mobile towers that shifted continuously throughout the show, in an attempt to give it a sense of cinematic fluidity.


title: Chess (musical)

text: The first preview on 11 April 1988 ran 4 hours with a 90-minute intermission (the stage crew reportedly had problems with the sets); by opening night on 28 April, it was down to 3 hours 15 minutes. But despite a healthy box-office advance, the Broadway production did not manage to sustain a consistently large audience and closed on 25 June, after 17 previews and 68 regular performances. "And there I was, on closing night, singing and sobbing along", later wrote "Time" magazine critic Richard Corliss. Overall, the show (capitalized at $6 million) since its opening, according to "Variety", "has been doing moderate business, mainly on the strength of theater party advances". Gerald Schoenfeld, co-producer of the show, noted: "The musical had been playing to about 80 percent capacity, which is considered good, but about 50 percent of the audience have held special, half-priced tickets. If we filled the house at 100 percent at half price, we'd go broke and I haven't seen any surge of tourist business yet this season. The show needs a $350,000 weekly gross to break even, but only a few weeks since its April 28 opening have reached that... You have to consider what your grosses are going to be in the future".


title: Chess (musical)

text: The Broadway production was nominated for several major awards. It got five nods from the Drama Desk Awards: Outstanding Actor in a Musical (David Carroll), Outstanding Actress in a Musical (Judy Kuhn), Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical (Harry Goz), Outstanding Music (Andersson and Ulvaeus) and Outstanding Lighting Design (David Hersey). Carroll and Kuhn also received Tony Award nominations in Leading Actor in a Musical and Leading Actress in a Musical categories. None of the nominations resulted in a win, but Philip Casnoff received a 1988 Theatre World Award for Best Debut Performance. The Original Broadway Cast recording of the musical was nominated for the 1988 Grammy Award in the category Best Musical Cast Show Album (won by "Into the Woods").


title: Chess (musical)

text: Later, the musical developed a cult following based primarily on the score (Frank Rich noted in his book "Hot Seat" that "the score retains its devoted fans"), while Nelson's book received more mixed notices. Many attempts were made to fix the Broadway version's perceived problems. In 2001, in an interview with the "San Francisco Chronicle", Tim Rice admitted that after the "comparative failure of "Chess," his all-time favourite, he became disillusioned with theatre." He commented, "It may sound arrogant, but "Chess" is as good as anything I've ever done. And maybe it costs too much brainpower for the average person to follow it".


title: Chess (musical)

text: Many critics panned the show, most notably Frank Rich of "The New York Times," who wrote that "the evening has the theatrical consistency of quicksand" and described it as "a suite of temper tantrums, [where] the characters ... yell at one another to rock music". Howard Kissel of "New York Daily News" complained that "the show is shrilly overamplified" and "neither of the love stories is emotionally involving", while "Newsweek" magazine called the show a "Broadway's monster" and opined that "Chess assaults the audience with a relentless barrage of scenes and numbers that are muscle-bound with self-importance".


title: Chess (musical)

text: A few reviewers, however, praised it highly. William A. Henry III wrote an exceptionally sympathetic review in "Time": "Clear narrative drive, Nunn's cinematic staging, three superb leading performances by actors willing to be complex and unlikeable and one of the best rock scores ever produced in the theater. This is an angry, difficult, demanding and rewarding show, one that pushes the boundaries of the form" (Time, 9 May 1988). His sentiments were echoed by William K. Gale in "Providence Journal": "A show with a solid, even wonderfully old-fashioned story that still has a bitter-sweet, rough-edged view of the world ... exciting, dynamic theater ... a match of wit and passion."


title: Chess (musical)

text: Richard Christiansen of "Chicago Tribune" suggested that ""Chess" falters despite new strategy", yet concluded his review: "Audiences forgive a lot of failings when they find a show that touches them with its music, and "Chess", clumsy and overblown as it sometimes is in its three hours-plus running time, gives them that heart". Welton Jones wrote in "The San Diego Union-Tribune" that "Chess" "has one of the richest, most exciting scores heard on Broadway in years ... Sadly, the music has been encumbered with an overwritten book and an uninspired staging ... Truly, this is a score to be treasured, held ransom by a questionable book and production".


title: Chess (musical)

text: All critics agreed, though, on the three leading performances by Judy Kuhn, David Carroll and Philip Casnoff. They were showered with praise – "splendid and gallant" ("Newsweek"), "powerful singers" ("The New York Times"), "remarkably fine" ("New York Post") – especially Kuhn, whose performance "Variety" called a "show's chief pleasure".


title: Chess (musical)

text: Benny Andersson commented in "Variety" on the negative Broadway reviews: "I really don't know why they don't like it. ... I do know that most of the audiences so far stand up and cheer for everyone at the end. They appear to get emotionally involved with the show, and they really like it."


title: Chess (musical)

text: The musical's American incarnation has noticeably different settings, lyrics, song orders, and a completely different Act 2 from the British version. In particular, in the American "Chess" the entire show is about one chess match, not two. Act 1 involves the first part of the match, which is held in Bangkok, Thailand, while Act 2 handles the conclusion, and is set in Budapest, Hungary. Also, the incumbent champion is switched in the American version (that is, to Anatoly Sergievsky rather than Freddie Trumper) as is the winner of the Sergievsky–Trumper tournament.


title: Chess (musical)

text: In 1956, a Hungarian revolutionary, Gregor Vassy, calmly explains to his 4-year-old daughter, Florence, the history of chess, before the two are separated in the midst of a violent rebellion in Budapest ("Prologue" / "The Story of Chess").


title: Chess (musical)

text: Decades later at an international chess tournament in Bangkok, Thailand, the wild-tempered American challenger, Freddie Trumper, arrives with his second and presumed lover: a now-adult Florence ("Freddie's Entrance"). At a press meeting, Freddie loses his temper with the reporters as Florence scolds them for their sensationalism ("Press Conference"). The current world champion, a Soviet Russian named Anatoly Sergievsky, discusses this with his second, Molokov. Afterwards, in private, Anatoly cynically reflects on how his career as world champion has been characterized by empty fame ("Where I Want to Be"). Meanwhile, Florence grows frustrated with Freddie's seedy financial agent, Walter, and complains to Freddie that her intellectual capabilities are under-appreciated ("Argument").


title: Chess (musical)

text: The opening ceremony features merchandise vendors and Walter relishing in the tournament's money-making opportunities ("Merchandisers"); the American and Soviet delegates each vowing their side will win ("Diplomats"); and the beginning of the tournament's first round ("Chess #1"). When Anatoly begins eating yogurt during the match, Freddie accuses him of cheating before storming out of the arena, leaving Florence to negotiate with the tournament's Arbiter, Molokov, and Anatoly, eventually promising to retrieve Freddie ("Quartet"). Florence later scolds Freddie, and they fight about the tournament's politics until he viciously turns the argument toward her missing father ("The American and Florence"); alone, Florence begins to realize her need to abandon Freddie ("Someone Else's Story").


title: Chess (musical)

text: Instead of heading off to the Generous Sole restaurant for the reconciliatory meeting Florence has scheduled between Freddie and Anatoly, Freddie is sidetracked by the Bangkok nightlife ("One Night in Bangkok"), leaving Anatoly and Florence awkwardly alone together; however, they eventually embrace as romantic feelings arise before being finally interrupted by Freddie ("Terrace Duet" / "Who'd Ever Think It?"). Anatoly apologizes for the yogurt incident and Freddie returns to the match, but only after a hefty bribe. Distracted by the loss of Florence's love, however, Freddie flounders, finishing the most recent round with one win and five losses; one more loss will cost him the match (Chess #2). Furious, he blames his issues on Florence, who finally leaves him as he reflects on his stature ("Florence Quits" / "A Taste of Pity"). Florence contemplates her new freedom from Freddie ("Nobody's Side"), while Walter secretly arranges for Anatoly to defect from the Soviet Union to the United States. When a mob of reporters ambush Anatoly and ask about his newfound relationship with Florence and why he is deserting his country ("Reporters"), he tells them that he will never truly leave his homeland ("Anthem").


title: Chess (musical)

text: Eight weeks later, everyone is in Budapest to witness the conclusion of the match between Anatoly and Freddie ("The Arbiter" / "Hungarian Folk Song"). Florence is elated to be back in her hometown, but dismayed that she remembers none of it ("Heaven Help My Heart"). Molokov offers to help her find her missing father and starts "investigating". Freddie, under protestations from Walter, is confident that he will win ("Winning"). Florence and Anatoly are now openly lovers, though their relationship is complicated by the arrival of Svetlana, Anatoly's estranged wife, in Budapest ("You and I"). Anatoly discovers that Molokov is threatening his brother's family to get him to return to Russia and begins to break down, losing a string of matches and leaving the score tied at five games all ("Freddie Goes Metal"). Molokov and Walter, interested in exchanging key individuals for their respective countries, collaborate to achieve their separate goals ("Let's Work Together"), and Molokov reveals to Walter that Florence's father is alive in Budapest, who in turn reveals this to Florence. Pressured by this information and the strain on her relationship with Anatoly, Florence turns to Svetlana for solace ("I Know Him So Well"). Anatoly, having heard the news of Florence's father, cannot focus on the match at hand, and so Florence asks Freddie for a postponement, but he refuses and breaks down on live television, reflecting how his broken childhood made him who he is today ("Pity the Child"). In the meantime, Molokov brings Florence to see a man claiming to be her father and the two joyously reconnect ("Father's Lullaby").


title: Chess (musical)

text: In the deciding game of the match, Anatoly resolves to ensure that Florence is reunited with her father. He thus chooses to recant his defection and makes a tactical error during the game. Freddie immediately takes advantage of the blunder and proceeds to win the tournament, becoming the new world champion ("Endgame"). Florence and Anatoly reflect on the conclusion of their romance ("You and I: Reprise"). Florence is left alone to wait for her father when she is approached by Walter, who confesses that the old man is not her father, who is most likely dead. It seems that Molokov struck a deal with Walter that if the Russians managed to get Anatoly back, they would release a captured American spy; using Florence, they succeeded. Florence has now left Freddie, been abandoned by Anatoly, and lost the father she never had, realising that she too has been used, and she sadly mirrors Anatoly's earlier sentiment that her only borders lie around her heart ("Anthem: Reprise").


title: Chess (musical)

text: This song appears on the Broadway cast album, but was deleted from production and is not found in the script licensed for production.


title: Chess (musical)

text: Soon after the show closed on Broadway, a concert version was performed in January 1989 at Carnegie Hall by the original cast in a sold-out benefit performance. In September of that year, Judy Kuhn, and two principals from the West End production (Körberg and Head), gave concerts of the musical in Skellefteå, Sweden, during the finals of the 1989 chess World Cup tournament.


title: Chess (musical)

text: The seven-month-long 1990 American tour acknowledged the ending of the Cold War. The tour starred Carolee Carmello, John Herrera, and Stephen Bogardus and was staged by Des McAnuff. Playwright Robert Coe worked with McAnuff on revising the show, mostly using the Nelson script and restoring most of the original song order from the British version of the musical and deleting the new songs written for the American version. A UK tour starring Rebecca Storm and mostly based on the London production, was a bigger success.


title: Chess (musical)

text: Once the Soviet Union fell, the modernization attempts died out: A Tim Rice rewrite played a brief run off Broadway in 1992 and set the show back to 1972. In 1990, a production was staged at the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, Illinois. Directed by David H. Bell and starring Susie McMonagle, David Studwell and Kim Strauss, it featured another reworking of the Nelson script. Bell's version has been performed in Sacramento, California and Atlanta, Georgia.


title: Chess (musical)

text: A 1990 production in Sydney, Australia, directed by Jim Sharman, was a critical and popular success at the Theatre Royal. It used a new version of the book rewritten primarily by Rice to streamline the plot, using parts from each of the previous versions, as well as his original conception for the American version. It starred Jodie Gillies as Florence, David McLeod as Frederick, and Robbie Krupski as Anatoly, and featured John Wood as Alexander, David Whitney as Walter, Laurence Clifford as the Arbiter, and Maria Mercedes as Svetlana. The action was shifted to an international hotel in Bangkok during the chess championships. No cast recording was made of this version. Both acts took place at a single chess match in a single city (Bangkok) in the late 1980s. Florence's nationality was changed from Hungarian to Czech, with an accompanying change in the lyrics of "The American and Florence" from "Budapest is rising" to "Prague and Mr. Dubček". The shift in time also led to a considerably different atmosphere, and a line changed in "Embassy Lament" addressing the fall of the Berlin Wall. As in the British version, Anatoly defects from the Soviet Union, wins the match, then decides to return to the Soviet Union at the end, leading to the possibility that Florence's father, if he is still alive, will be released from prison. Many of the numbers from the British version were lengthened considerably, with an extended "One Night in Bangkok" near the top of the show. "Heaven Help My Heart" ended the first act, with "Anthem" and "Someone Else's Story" (sung by Svetlana with new lyrics) in the second. "The Soviet Machine" and "The Deal" were also extended considerably. A later Australian production played at the Princess Theatre, Melbourne, in 1997, with Barbara Dickson as Florence (she had sung Svetlana on the original studio cast album). Co-stars included Derek Metzger and Daryl Braithwaite.


title: Chess (musical)

text: In 1994, Chess in Concert toured cities in Sweden. The songs and lyrics were largely identical to the original album, with the addition of "Someone Else's Story" from the American version and "The Soviet Machine" from the British version. The cast included Anders Glenmark as Frederick, Karin Glenmark as Florence, and Tommy Körberg as Anatoly. A concert performance at Eriksbergshallen in Gothenburg was recorded.


title: Chess (musical)

text: In 1995, a Los Angeles production at Hollywood's Hudson Theater received critical praise. It starred Marcia Mitzman (who played Svetlana in the first Broadway production) as Florence and Sean Smith as Anatoly. For their performances both Mitzman and Smith won an Ovation Award and a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award. "Chess" toured in the UK in 1996. The cast included Jacqui Scott, and "Nobody's Side" was used as the finale.


title: Chess (musical)

text: In 1996-1997 elements of "Chess" were incorporated in the Russian Mossovet Theatre musical "Igra", along with other songs of Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, The Beatles, and other hits of 1960-80s. Russian lyrics were penned by Yaroslav Kesler, who also worked on Mossovet's staging of Jesus Christ Superstar. "Igra" in general was presented as follow up to the famous rock-opera and featured mostly same group of artists and producers, but survived just one season.


title: Chess (musical)

text: A Danish tour began in 2001. The English-language version starred mostly British principals, directed by Craig Revel Horwood. A two-CD album was released, titled "Chess: Complete Cast Album", the only major complete recording of the British version of the musical (plus the addition of the American version's "Someone Else's Story" for Svetlana in Act 2). The production also followed the British version of the plot, though later performances used a much shorter, trimmed-down version closer to the original concept album. The cast included Zubin Varla as Frederick, Emma Kershaw as Florence, Stig Rossen as Anatoly, Simon Clark as Alexander, and James Graeme as Walter, Gunilla Backman as Svetlana, and Michael Cormick as the Arbiter.


title: Chess (musical)

text: A 2002 Swedish-language version, Chess på Svenska, with lyrics and book by Björn Ulvaeus, Lars Rudolffson, and Jan Mark, attempted to streamline the story back to its original form and eliminate political aspects. It featured new musical numbers (Svetlana's "Han är en man, han är ett barn" ("He is a man, he is a child") and Molokov's "Glöm mig om du kan" ("Forget me if you can" from the demo song "When The Waves Roll Out to Sea")) and focused on material from the concept album. Cast members included Tommy Körberg, reprising his role as Anatolij, Helen Sjöholm as Florence, Josefin Nilsson as Svetlana, Anders Ekborg as Freddie and Per Myrberg as Alexander. It was filmed for Swedish television, and has been released on a Swedish-language DVD. It was nominated for eight national Swedish Theatre Awards Guldmasken, winning six, including Best Leading Actress (Sjöholm), Best Leading Actor (Körberg), and Best Stage Design (Robin Wagner). The cast CD "Chess På Svenska" peaked at number 2 on the Swedish album chart.


title: Chess (musical)

text: An Actors Fund of America Benefit Concert was given in 2003 in the New Amsterdam Theater on Broadway. It was produced without set or costume changes, and with the orchestra onstage. The show was a combination of both the American and British versions, mostly following the British version with regard to music but the American version with regard to the plot, though the American version's subplot with Florence's father was cut. Act 1 was set in Merano, and Act 2 was set in Bangkok, like in the British version. The show, which was recorded, was directed by Peter Flynn, choreographed by Christopher Gattelli and conducted by Seth Rudetsky. The cast included Adam Pascal as Frederick, Julia Murney as Florence, Josh Groban as Anatoly, Norm Lewis as Alexander, Raúl Esparza as the Arbiter, and Sutton Foster as Svetlana.


title: Chess (musical)

text: A concert version was presented in 2007 at the Ford Amphitheatre, Los Angeles, California, mixing the British and American versions. The cast included Susan Egan as Svetlana, Kevin Earley as Anatoly, Ty Taylor as Freddie, Cindy Robinson as Florence, Thomas Griffith as Alexander, and Matthew Morrison as the Arbiter. The concert was directed by Brian Michael Purcell. A portion of the proceeds went to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. A German-language version premiered in 2008 at Staatsoperette Dresden. It ran two seasons until 2010.


title: Chess (musical)

text: In 2008, Warner Bros. Records produced a two-performance concert version of "Chess" together with the City of London Philharmonic Orchestra, at the Royal Albert Hall. This version, including almost no dialogue or set, but otherwise following the British version in plot and music, was recorded and released as a 2-CD cast album and DVD, both titled "Chess in Concert". It was also broadcast on American PBS channels in June 2009. Tim Rice stated in the concert's programme that this version of "Chess" is the "official version", after years of different plot and song combinations. Though the plot and score is entirely based on that of the British version, this version also adds in two American-originated songs: "Prologue" and "Someone Else's Story". The cast included Adam Pascal as Frederick, Idina Menzel as Florence, Josh Groban as Anatoly, Kerry Ellis as Svetlana, Marti Pellow as the Arbiter, David Bedella as Alexander, and Clarke Peters as Walter. The Civil Servants (in "Embassy Lament") were sung by Cantabile


title: Chess (musical)

text: In 2009, the first official Italian production (in Italian language) took place in Firenze, then replicated in Prato (2010), Campi Bisenzio-FI (2011), and Siena (2011). The cast included Alberto Putignano/Emanuele Nardoni as Frederick, Irene Vavolo/Alessandra D'Onofrio as Florence, Piercarlo Ballo as Anatoly, Ilaria Bongini/Giulia Gazzeri as Svetlana, Riccardo Andreoni as the Arbiter, Maurizio Capuana as Molokov, and Matteo Gazzeri/Marco Davide Toci as Walter. Direction by Piercarlo Ballo.


title: Chess (musical)

text: A Hungarian revival of "Chess" ran in 2010 in Budapest. This concert production closely followed the script of the Royal Albert Hall production of 2008, though the songs "Hymn of Chess", "The Merchandisers", "The Arbiter" (reprise) and "Talking Chess" were cut. It was produced by PS Produkció and directed by Cornelius Baltus. The Hungarian lyrics were written by Ágnes Romhányi and the choreographer was Karen Bruce. The first major American revival of "Chess" since 1993 ran at the Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia in 2010. The show followed the story of the American version, though it streamlined the book and reordered some of the songs. It was directed by Eric D. Schaeffer. The cast included Jeremy Kushnier as Freddie, Euan Morton as Anatoly, and Jill Paice as Florence.


title: Chess (musical)

text: A production directed by Craig Revel Horwood toured for 10 months in the UK and Ireland in 2010–2011. It was an actor-musician production, with 25 out of the 30 cast members playing instruments. Changes to the libretto included the removal of "Merano" and "Walter and Florence". The cast included James Fox as Frederick, Shona White as Florence, Daniel Koek as Anatoly, Steve Varnom as Alexander, James Graeme as Walter, David Erik as the Arbiter, and Poppy Tierney as Svetlana. Mirvish Productions staged a Toronto run in 2011, following the UK tour, using most of the UK Tour cast. Changes to the libretto included the removal of "The Merchandisers". Another German version (with the songs performed in English) was produced by the Theater Bielefeld (Municipal Theatre Bielefeld) in Bielefeld, Germany in 2011–2012.


title: Chess (musical)

text: A one-night concert was given at Lincoln Center, in New York in 2012, billed as "Chess" in Concept 2012: A benefit performance for the Actors Fund of America. The cast included Robert Cuccioli as Anatoly, Natascia Diaz as Florence, Drew Sarich as Frederick, and Tamra Hayden as Svetlana. This version returned to the original concept album for its musical structure, Tim Rice's original scenario, and incorporated virtually all of the British score. It was produced and directed, and the score was arranged, by Christopher Martin.


title: Chess (musical)

text: A New Zealand production of "Chess" ran in 2012, in the Regent On Broadway, directed by Steven Sayer. The show was produced by the Abbey Musical Theatre. A 2012 Melbourne, Australia production was directed by Gale Edwards and mounted by The Production Company. The cast featured Martin Crewes as Frederick, Michael Falzon as the Arbiter, Silvie Paladino as Florence, and Simon Gleeson as Anatoly, It was staged at the State Theatre, backed by Orchestra Victoria. The role of the Arbiter was expanded slightly by sharing Florence's song "Nobody's Side". The show ran for 10 performances and was nominated for twelve Green Room Awards in 2012, eventually winning seven. Chess was also nominated for two 2013 Helpmann Awards, with Paladino winning "Actress in a Leading Role".


title: Chess (musical)

text: In 2012, the GöteborgsOperan (Gothenburg Opera, Sweden) ran the Swedish-language version, Chess på Svenska, under the direction of Mira Bartov. The musical ran until the Fall of 2013. The roles of Anatoly and Freddie were played by Philip Jalmelid and Christopher Wollter. Evelyn Jons played Florence and Nina Pressing played Svetlana.


title: Chess (musical)

text: East West Players staged a revival of the UK version of "Chess" with a multi-cultural cast in 2013 at the David Henry Hwang Theatre in Los Angeles, California, directed by Tim Dang. The production garnered a positive review from the "Los Angeles Times".


title: Chess (musical)

text: A South Korean production opened in 2015, with K-Pop stars Jo Kwon, CNU, Key, and Ken quadruple-cast as Anatoly.


title: Chess (musical)

text: Porchlight Music Theatre presented "Chess" as a part of their "Porchlight Revisits" season in which they present three forgotten musicals per year. It was in Chicago, Illinois in May 2016. It was directed by Artistic Director Michael Weber, choreographed by Brenda Didier, and music directed by Jimmy Morehead.


title: Chess (musical)

text: In 2017, a Swedish theatre group, UnderhållningsPatrullen, presented the Swedish-language version, Chess på Svenska, at the Kristianstad Theatre, with a premiere date of 23 September 2017. The production included a completely new orchestration by Anders Eljas involving a smaller orchestra, just 13 members as opposed to the usual 24 members, to introduce a new version for future productions better suited to smaller theatre venues. The roles of Anatoly, Florence, and Freddie were played by Johan Wikström, Frida Modén Treichl, and Patrik Martinsson. Hanna la Fleur performed as Svetlana, Peter Järnstedt plays Molokov, and David Rix plays Jean Jacques van Boren the Arbiter (chefsdomaren). Director: Ola Hörling, Conductor: Nils-Petter Ankarblom and subsequently Thomas Bay (Conductor), Producer: Åsa Jensen, Costume: Fredrika Liliius, Scenography: Leif Persson, Musical Instruction & Pianist: Jonas Svensson. The Kristianstad production ran for an expanded schedule and finally closed in December 2017 after 47 shows.


title: Chess (musical)

text: A West End revival began at the London Coliseum on 26 April 2018 through 2 June 2018, officially opening on 1 May 2018. Billed as the first revival of the show in 30 years, the production was directed by Laurence Connor, with choreography by Stephen Mear. The cast had Michael Ball as Anatoly, Phillip Browne as Molokov, Alexandra Burke as Svetlana, Cedric Neal as the Arbiter, Tim Howar as Freddie and Cassidy Janson as Florence.


title: Chess (musical)

text: Described as a new interpretation of the original concept album, the new book keeps the first act in Merano and the second in Bangkok, and including all songs from the concept album (including "Argument"), along with the popular "Someone Else's Story", removing the character of Walter entirely, and dropping the final twist of Florence's father never having been found after all. It ends instead on the bittersweet parting of Florence and Anatoly amidst the triumphant crescendo of You And I.


title: Chess (musical)

text: On 20 June 2017, Tim Rice announced that after a recent table reading, a revival of the musical with a restructured storyline will be staged on Broadway in late 2018. The production featured a book penned by Danny Strong and is directed by Michael Mayer. On 29 November, it was announced that the show would have a pre-Broadway tryout in the Eisenhower Theater at the Kennedy Center from 14 to 18 February 2018. The cast included Raúl Esparza as Freddie, Ramin Karimloo as Anatoly, Karen Olivo as Florence, Ruthie Ann Miles as Svetlana, Bradley Dean as Molokov, Sean Allan Krill as Walter de Courcey, and Bryce Pinkham as the Arbiter.


title: Chess (musical)

text: This production, though keeping much of the original plot of the 1986 West End production, expands on it significantly. Each act has a political background: Act One, set in 1979, centers on negotiations for the SALT-II treaty, and Act Two, set four years later, centers on suspicions surrounding the Able Archer 83 exercises. Walter no longer has a cover, and is openly a CIA agent. Freddie is portrayed as having paranoid schizophrenia, and the show ends with Florence's father being released.


title: Chess (musical)

text: Tony nominee Ramin Karimloo (Les Misérables, Anastasia) and Samantha Barks (Pretty Woman, Les Misérables) co-starred in Chess at the Umeda Arts Theater Main Hall in Osaka, Japan (January 25–28) and at the Tokyo International Forum Hall C in Tokyo (February 1–9).


title: Chess (musical)

text: Karimloo played Anatoly with Barks as Florence, Luke Walsh (Rock of Ages) as Freddie, Takanori Sato as the Arbiter, Eliana as Svetlana, and Hideya Masuhara as Molokov. The ensemble included Megumi Iino, Hiroaki Ito, Takashi Otsuka, Kana Okamoto, Naoki Shibahara, Tatsunori Senna, Kota Someya, Tomohiko Nakai, Nanaka, Ai Ninomiya, Ami Norimatsu, Maaya Harada, Kan Muto, Daisuke Moriyama, Sayaka Watabiki, and Kiyoka Wada.


title: Chess (musical)

text: Nick Winston directed and choreographed. Winston said, "I am delighted to be returning to Japan to direct and choreograph Chess, the epic rock opera about love, set against the backdrop of the Cold War. I cannot wait for audiences to experience this new production, with an exceptional cast and orchestra delivering this iconic score. The innovative creative team and I will bring a fresh dynamic to this beloved political thriller to produce an electrifying night in the theatre."


title: Chess (musical)

text: Karimloo added, "Chess is one of the greatest scores ever written and has some of the most iconic songs that are still relevant today. I am thrilled to be coming back to Japan in this production of Chess to play Anatoly."


title: Chess (musical)

text: On 17 October 2020, the first Russian production of Chess premiered at the MDM Theatre in Moscow. It was produced by Dmitriy Bogachov, the former head of Stage Entertainment Russia, founder of Moscow Broadway, and member of The Broadway League. The opening had been scheduled for 10 October, but was moved a week later.


title: Chess (musical)

text: The cast includes Aleksandr Sukhanov and Kirill Gordeev as Anatoly (both known for their roles in Tanz der Vampire and Jekyll & Hyde in St. Petersburg and Moscow), Anastasia Stotskaya (Zorro, Chicago), Olga Belyaeva (Cats, The Sound of Music, The Count of Monte Cristo), and Yulia Iva as Florence, Aleksandr Kazmin (Alfred in Tanz der Vampire, Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment musical and Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors) and Aleksandr Bobrov (also Raskolnikov) as Freddie, Anna Guchenkova and Yulia Iva as Svetlana, Stanislav Belyaev and Denis Demkiv as the Arbiter, and Aleksandr Marakulin (Notre-Dame de Paris), Aleksandr Matrosov, and Andrey Shkoldychenko (understudy Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera, Audrey II in Little Shop of Horrors) as Molokov.


title: Chess (musical)

text: The lyrics were translated by Aleksei Ivaschenko (Nord-Ost, Russian versions of The Phantom of the Opera, The Sound of Music). The show is mostly based on the West End version, but returns the track order of the original concept album. The prologue is set in Moscow, as in the Swedish version, and the rest of the show is set in Merano (Act I) and Bangkok (Act II). Walter was omitted and the songs "Florence and Molokov", "Anatoly and the Press", "One More Opponent", "Talking Chess" and "Finale" were removed. The song "Argument" was included. The chess games played on stage are actual historical chess games: Karpov-Korchnoi (1978) and Spassky-Fischer (1972) in Act I, and Karjakin-Caruana (2016) in Act II. Starting 7 April 2020, the omitted song "Merchandisers" was performed by the chorus in the theater lobby during intermission.


title: Chess (musical)

text: As of February 2021, there was no scheduled closing night, but during a live Q&A session held on 4 February 2021 on the Broadway Moscow Instagram, Bogachov said that he plans to keep the production on stage during the summer and hopes that it will remain for a second season.


title: Chess (musical)

text: A semi-staged concert hall production toured Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane from April to June 2021. A cut-down version of the general plot of the 1986 British version (instead of the 1990 Sydney production), changes included the movement of "Someone Else's Story" back to Act One and "I Know Him So Well" before "The Deal". It was accompanied by a 26 piece orchestra and 40 person choir. According to the musical director's notes in the program, they tried to stay faithful to the sound, feel and spirit of the concept album, sourcing original keyboard and drum sounds. Although "semi-staged", it had a small set consisting of a chess board with large pieces representing towns where the tournaments were held, and a dance ensemble, elaborate choreography and lighting.


title: Chess (musical)

text: The casts listed below are based on both major productions of the show and commercially available cast recordings.


title: Chess (musical)

text: Tim Rice has always expressed his desire of adapting "Chess" for the big screen. In 2003, Kylie Minogue was in talks to play one of the two female parts. She met up with Rice in Paris to discuss the script. Jude Law and Brendan Gleeson were also discussed as male lead contenders.


title: Chess (musical)

text: On 10 January 2022, on his podcast "Get Onto My Cloud", Rice stated that in addition to a possible Broadway revival happening soon, he hopes for a film adaptation to follow suit, in part bolstered by the recent success of the chess-focused Netflix miniseries "The Queen's Gambit".


title: Multiculturalism

text: The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for "ethnic pluralism", with the two terms often used interchangeably, and for cultural pluralism in which various ethnic groups collaborate and enter into a dialogue with one another without having to sacrifice their particular identities. It can describe a mixed ethnic community area where multiple cultural traditions exist (such as New York City or London) or a single country within which they do (such as Switzerland, Belgium or Russia). Groups associated with an indigenous, aboriginal or autochthonous ethnic group and settler-descended ethnic groups are often the focus.


title: Multiculturalism

text: In reference to sociology, multiculturalism is the end-state of either a natural or artificial process (for example: legally-controlled immigration) and occurs on either a large national scale or on a smaller scale within a nation's communities. On a smaller scale this can occur artificially when a jurisdiction is established or expanded by amalgamating areas with two or more different cultures (e.g. French Canada and English Canada). On a large scale, it can occur as a result of either legal or illegal migration to and from different jurisdictions around the world.


title: Multiculturalism

text: In reference to political science, multiculturalism can be defined as a state's capacity to effectively and efficiently deal with cultural plurality within its sovereign borders. Multiculturalism as a political philosophy involves ideologies and policies which vary widely. It has been described as a "salad bowl" and as a "cultural mosaic", in contrast to a "melting pot".


title: Multiculturalism

text: States that embody multicultural ideals have arguably existed since ancient times. The Achaemenid Empire founded by Cyrus the Great followed a policy of incorporating and tolerating various cultures.


title: Multiculturalism

text: A historical example of multiculturalism was the Habsburg monarchy, which had broken up in 1918 and under whose roof many different ethnic, linguistic and religious groups lived together. One of the foundations of this centuries-old state structure was the Habsburg principle of "live and let live". The effects of this multicultural political system can still be statistically measured today, since a particularly positive relationship of trust between citizens and authorities (the so-called Habsburg effect) can still be seen in the former dominion. Today's topical issues such as social and cultural differentiation, multilingualism, competing identity offers or multiple cultural identities have already shaped the scientific theories of many thinkers of this multi-ethnic empire. After the First World War, ethnic minorities were disadvantaged, forced to emigrate or even murdered in most regions in the area of the former Habsburg monarchy due to the prevailing nationalism at the time. In many areas, these ethnic mosaics no longer exist today. The ethnic mix of that time can only be experienced in a few areas, such as in the former Habsburg port city of Trieste.


title: Multiculturalism

text: In the political philosophy of multiculturalism, ideas are focused on the ways in which societies are either believed to or should, respond to cultural and Christian differences. It is often associated with "identity politics", "the politics of difference", and "the politics of recognition". It is also a matter of economic interests and political power. In more recent times political multiculturalist ideologies have been expanding in their use to include and define disadvantaged groups such as African Americans and the LGBT community, with arguments often focusing on ethnic and religious minorities, minority nations, indigenous peoples and even people with disabilities. It is within this context in which the term is most commonly understood and the broadness and scope of the definition, as well as its practical use, has been the subject of serious debate.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Most debates over multiculturalism center around whether or not multiculturalism is the appropriate way to deal with diversity and immigrant integration. The arguments regarding the perceived rights to a multicultural education include the proposition that it acts as a way to demand recognition of aspects of a group's culture subordination and its entire experience in contrast to a melting pot or non-multicultural societies.


title: Multiculturalism

text: The term multiculturalism is most often used in reference to Western nation-states, which had seemingly achieved a de facto single national identity during the 18th and/or 19th centuries.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Multiculturalism has been official policy in several Western nations since the 1970s, for reasons that varied from country to country, including the fact that many of the great cities of the Western world are increasingly made of a mosaic of cultures.


title: Multiculturalism

text: The Canadian government has often been described as the instigator of multicultural ideology because of its public emphasis on the social importance of immigration. The Canadian Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism is often referred to as the origins of modern political awareness of multiculturalism. Canada has provided provisions to the French speaking majority of Quebec, whereby they function as an autonomous community with special rights to govern the members of their community, as well as establish French as one of the official languages. In the Western English-speaking countries, multiculturalism as an official national policy started in Canada in 1971, followed by Australia in 1973 where it is maintained today. It was quickly adopted as official policy by most member-states of the European Union. Recently, right-of-center governments in several European states – notably the Netherlands and Denmark – have reversed the national policy and returned to an official monoculturalism. A similar reversal is the subject of debate in the United Kingdom, among others, due to evidence of incipient segregation and anxieties over "home-grown" terrorism. Several heads-of-state or heads-of-government have expressed doubts about the success of multicultural policies: The United Kingdom's ex-Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Australia's ex-prime minister John Howard, Spanish ex-prime minister José María Aznar and French ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy have voiced concerns about the effectiveness of their multicultural policies for integrating immigrants.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Many nation-states in Africa, Asia, and the Americas are culturally diverse and are 'multicultural' in a descriptive sense. In some, ethnic communalism is a major political issue. The policies adopted by these states often have parallels with multiculturalist policies in the Western world, but the historical background is different, and the goal may be a mono-cultural or mono-ethnic nation-building – for instance in the Malaysian government's attempt to create a 'Malaysian race' by 2020.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Multiculturalism is seen by its supporters as a fairer system that allows people to truly express who they are within a society, that is more tolerant and that adapts better to social issues. They argue that culture is not one definable thing based on one race or religion, but rather the result of multiple factors that change as the world changes.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Historically, support for modern multiculturalism stems from the changes in Western societies after World War II, in what Susanne Wessendorf calls the "human rights revolution", in which the horrors of institutionalized racism and ethnic cleansing became almost impossible to ignore in the wake of the Holocaust; with the collapse of the European colonial system, as colonized nations in Africa and Asia successfully fought for their independence and pointed out the discriminatory underpinnings of the colonial system; and, in the United States in particular, with the rise of the Civil Rights Movement, which criticized ideals of assimilation that often led to prejudices against those who did not act according to Anglo-American standards and which led to the development of academic ethnic studies programs as a way to counteract the neglect of contributions by racial minorities in classrooms. As this history shows, multiculturalism in Western countries was seen to combat racism, to protect minority communities of all types, and to undo policies that had prevented minorities from having full access to the opportunities for freedom and equality promised by the liberalism that has been the hallmark of Western societies since the Age of Enlightenment. The contact hypothesis in sociology is a well-documented phenomenon in which cooperative interactions with those from a different group than one's own reduce prejudice and inter-group hostility.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Will Kymlicka argues for "group differentiated rights", that help both religious and cultural minorities operate within the larger state as a whole, without impinging on the rights of the larger society. He bases this on his opinion that human rights fall short in protecting the rights of minorities, as the state has no stake in protecting the minorities.


title: Multiculturalism

text: C. James Trotman argues that multiculturalism is valuable because it "uses several disciplines to highlight neglected aspects of our social history, particularly the histories of women and minorities [...and] promotes respect for the dignity of the lives and voices of the forgotten. By closing gaps, by raising consciousness about the past, multiculturalism tries to restore a sense of wholeness in a postmodern era that fragments human life and thought."


title: Multiculturalism

text: Tariq Modood argues that in the early years of the 21st century, multiculturalism "is most timely and necessary, and [...] we need more not less", since it is "the form of integration" that (1) best fits the ideal of egalitarianism, (2) has "the best chance of succeeding" in the "post-9/11, post 7/7" world, and (3) has remained "moderate [and] pragmatic".


title: Multiculturalism

text: Bhikhu Parekh counters what he sees as the tendencies to equate multiculturalism with racial minorities "demanding special rights" and to see these as promoting a "thinly veiled racis[m]". Instead, he argues that multiculturalism is in fact "not about minorities" but "is about the proper terms of the relationship between different cultural communities", which means that the standards by which the communities resolve their differences, e.g., "the principles of justice" must not come from only one of the cultures but must come "through an open and equal dialogue between them."


title: Multiculturalism

text: Balibar characterizes criticisms of multiculturalism as "differentialist racism", which he describes as a covert form of racism that does not purport ethnic superiority as much as it asserts stereotypes of perceived "incompatibility of life-styles and traditions".


title: Multiculturalism

text: While there is research that suggests that ethnic diversity increases chances of war, lower public goods provision and decreases democratization, there is also research that shows that ethnic diversity in itself is not detrimental to peace, public goods provision or democracy. Rather, it was found that promoting diversity actually helps in advancing disadvantaged students. A 2018 study in the "American Political Science Review" cast doubts on findings that ethnoracial homogeneity led to greater public goods provision. A 2015 study in the "American Journal of Sociology" challenged past research showing that racial diversity adversely affected trust.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Critics of multiculturalism often debate whether the multicultural ideal of benignly co-existing cultures that interrelate and influence one another, and yet remain distinct, is sustainable, paradoxical, or even desirable. It is argued that nation states, who would previously have been synonymous with a distinctive cultural identity of their own, lose out to enforced multiculturalism and that this ultimately erodes the host nations' distinct culture.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Sarah Song views cultures as historically shaped entities by its members, and that they lack boundaries due to globalization, thereby making them stronger than what others may assume. She goes on to argue against the notion of special rights as she feels cultures are mutually constructive, and are shaped by the dominant culture. Brian Barry advocates a difference-blind approach to culture in the political realm and he rejects group-based rights as antithetical to the universalist liberal project, which he views as based on the individual.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Susan Moller Okin, a feminist professor of political philosophy, argued in 1999, in "Is multiculturalism bad for women?", that the principle that all cultures are equal means that the equal rights of women in particular are sometimes severely violated.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Harvard professor of political science Robert D. Putnam conducted a nearly decade-long study on how multiculturalism affects social trust. He surveyed 26,200 people in 40 American communities, finding that when the data were adjusted for class, income and other factors, the more racially diverse a community is, the greater the loss of trust. People in diverse communities "don’t trust the local mayor, they don’t trust the local paper, they don’t trust other people and they don’t trust institutions," writes Putnam. In the presence of such ethnic diversity, Putnam maintains that, "[W]e hunker down. We act like turtles. The effect of diversity is worse than had been imagined. And it’s not just that we don’t trust people who are not like us. In diverse communities, we don’t trust people who do not look like us". Putnam has also stated, however, that "this allergy to diversity tends to diminish and to go away... I think in the long run we'll all be better." Putnam denied allegations he was arguing against diversity in society and contended that his paper had been "twisted" to make a case against race-conscious admissions to universities. He asserted that his "extensive research and experience confirm the substantial benefits of diversity, including racial and ethnic diversity, to our society."


title: Multiculturalism

text: Relatively homogeneous societies invest more in public goods, indicating a higher level of public altruism. For example, the degree of ethnic homogeneity correlates with the government's share of gross domestic product as well as the average wealth of citizens. Case studies of the United States, Africa and South-East Asia find that multi-ethnic societies are less charitable and less able to cooperate to develop public infrastructure. Moscow beggars receive more gifts from fellow ethnics than from other ethnies . A recent multi-city study of municipal spending on public goods in the United States found that ethnically or racially diverse cities spend a smaller portion of their budgets and less per capita on public services than do the more homogeneous cities.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Dick Lamm, former three-term Democratic governor of the US state of Colorado, argued that "diverse peoples worldwide are mostly engaged in hating each other—that is, when they are not killing each other. A diverse, peaceful, or stable society is against most historical precedent."


title: Multiculturalism

text: The American classicist Victor Davis Hanson used the perceived differences in "rationality" between Moctezuma and Cortés to argue that Western culture was superior to every culture in the entire world, which thus led him to reject multiculturalism as a false doctrine that placed all cultures on an equal footing.


title: Multiculturalism

text: In New Zealand (Aotearoa), which is officially bi-cultural, multiculturalism has been seen as a threat to the Māori as an attempt by the New Zealand Government to undermine Māori demands for self-determination and encourage assimilation.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Far-right sympathisers have been shown to increasingly take part in a multitude of online discursive efforts directed against global brands' multicultural advertisements.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Though not called "Multiculturalism" as such, the preamble of Argentina's constitution explicitly promotes immigration, and recognizes the individual's multiple citizenship from other countries. Though 97% of Argentina's population self-identify as of European descent and mestizo to this day a high level of multiculturalism remains a feature of Argentina's culture, allowing foreign festivals and holidays (e.g. Saint Patrick's Day), supporting all kinds of art or cultural expression from ethnic groups, as well as their diffusion through an important multicultural presence in the media.


title: Multiculturalism

text: In Argentina the are recognized regional languages Guaraní in Corrientes, Quechua in Santiago del Estero, Qom, Mocoví, and Wichí in Chaco.


title: Multiculturalism

text: According to the National Institute of Indigenous Affairs published on its website, there are 1,779 registered indigenous communities in Argentina, belonging to 39 indigenous peoples.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Bolivia is a diverse country made up of 36 different types of indigenous groups. Over 62% of Bolivia's population falls into these different indigenous groups, making it the most indigenous country in Latin America. Out of the indigenous groups the Aymara and the Quechua are the largest. The latter 30% of the population is a part of the mestizo, which are a people mixed with European and indigenous ancestry. Bolivia's political administrations have endorsed multicultural politics and in 2009 Bolivia's Constitution was inscribed with multicultural principles. The Constitution of Bolivia recognizes 36 official languages besides Spanish, each language has its own culture and indigenous group. Bolivian culture is celebrated across the country and has heavy influences from the Aymara, the Quechua, the Spanish, and other popular cultures from around Latin America.


title: Multiculturalism

text: The Americas have been known to be some of the most multicultural geographical locations, with a diversity of language, religion, and ethnicity. The South American country Brazil can also acclaim multiculturalism, and has undergone many changes in the past few decades. Brazil is a controversial country when it comes to defining a multicultural country. There are two views: the Harvard Institute of Economic Research states that Brazil has an intersection of many cultures because of recent migration, while the Pew Research Center state that Brazil is culturally diverse but the majority of the country speaks Portuguese.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Cities such as São Paulo are home to migrants from Japan, Italy, Lebanon and Portugal. There is a multicultural presence within in this city, and this is prevalent throughout Brazil. Furthermore, Brazil is a country that has made great strides to embrace migrant cultures. There has been increased awareness of anti-blackness and active efforts to combat racism.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Canadian society is often depicted as being "very progressive, diverse, and multicultural". Multiculturalism (a Just Society) was adopted as the official policy of the Canadian government during the premiership of Pierre Elliott Trudeau in the 1970s and 1980s. Multiculturalism is reflected in the law through the Canadian Multiculturalism Act and section 27 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Broadcasting Act of 1991 asserts the Canadian broadcasting system should reflect the diversity of cultures in the country. Canadian multiculturalism is looked upon with admiration outside the country, resulting in the Canadian public dismissing most critics of the concept. Multiculturalism in Canada is often looked at as one of Canada's significant accomplishments, and a key distinguishing element of Canadian identity.


title: Multiculturalism

text: In a 2002 interview with "The Globe and Mail", Karīm al-Hussainī, the 49th Aga Khan of the Ismaili Muslims, described Canada as "the most successful pluralist society on the face of our globe", citing it as "a model for the world". He explained that the experience of Canadian governance—its commitment to pluralism and its support for the rich multicultural diversity of its people—is something that must be shared and would be of benefit to all societies in other parts of the world. "The Economist" ran a cover story in 2016 praising Canada as the most successful multicultural society in the West. "The Economist" argued that Canada's multiculturalism was a source of strength that united the diverse population and by attracting immigrants from around the world was also an engine of economic growth as well. Many public and private groups in Canada work to support both multiculturalism and recent immigrants to Canada. In an effort to support recent Filipino immigrants to Alberta, for example, one school board partnered with a local university and an immigration agency to support these new families in their school and community.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Mexico has historically always been a multicultural country. After the betrayal of Hernán Cortés to the Aztecs, the Spanish conquered the Aztec Empire and colonized indigenous people. They influenced the indigenous religion, politics, culture and ethnicity. The Spanish opened schools in which they taught Christianity, and the Spanish language eventually surpassed indigenous languages, making it the most spoken language in Mexico. Mestizo was also born from the conquest, which meant being half-Indigenous and half-Spanish.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Mexico City has recently been integrating rapidly, doing much better than many cities in a sample conducted by the Intercultural Cities Index (being the only non-European city, alongside Montreal, on the index). Mexico is an ethnically diverse country with a population composed of approximately 123 million in 2017. There is a wide variety of ethnic groups, the major group being Mestizos followed by White Mexicans and Indigenous Mexicans. There are many other ethnic groups such as Arab Mexicans, Afro-Mexicans and Asian Mexicans.


title: Multiculturalism

text: From the year 2000 to 2010, the number of people in Mexico that were born in another country doubled, reaching a total of 961,121 people, mostly coming from Guatemala and the United States. Mexico is quickly becoming a melting pot, with many immigrants coming into the country. It is considered to be a cradle of civilization, which influences their multiculturalism and diversity, by having different civilizations influence them. A distinguishable trait of Mexico's culture is the mestizaje of its people, which caused the combination of Spanish influence, their indigenous roots while also adapting the culture traditions from their immigrants.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Peru is an exemplary country of multiculturalism, in 2016 the INEI reported a total population of 31 million people. They share their borders with Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Chile and Bolivia, and have welcomed many immigrants into their country creating a diverse community.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Peru is the home to Amerindians but after the Spanish Conquest, the Spanish brought African, and Asian peoples as slaves to Peru creating a mix of ethnic groups. After slavery was no longer permitted in Peru, African-Peruvians and Asian-Peruvians have contributed to Peruvian culture in many ways. Today, Amerindians make up 45% of the population, Mestizos 37%, white 15% and 3% is composed by black, Chinese, and others. In 1821, Peru's president José de San Martín gave foreigners the freedom to start industries in Peru's ground, 2 years after, foreigners that lived in Peru for more than 5 years were considered naturalized citizens, which then decreased to 3 years.


title: Multiculturalism

text: In the United States, multiculturalism is not clearly established in policy at the federal level, but ethnic diversity is common in rural, suburban and urban areas.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Continuous mass immigration was a feature of the United States economy and society since the first half of the 19th century. The absorption of the stream of immigrants became, in itself, a prominent feature of America's national myth. The idea of the melting pot is a metaphor that implies that all the immigrant cultures are mixed and amalgamated without state intervention. The melting pot theory implied that each individual immigrant, and each group of immigrants, assimilated into American society at their own pace. This is different from multiculturalism as it is defined above, which does not include complete assimilation and integration. The melting pot tradition co-exists with a belief in national unity, dating from the American founding fathers:


title: Multiculturalism

text: Providence has been pleased to give this one connected country to one united people – a people descended from the same ancestors, speaking the same language, professing the same religion, attached to the same principles of government, very similar in their manners and customs... This country and this people seem to have been made for each other, and it appears as if it was the design of Providence, that an inheritance so proper and convenient for a band of brethren, united to each other by the strongest ties, should never be split into a number of unsocial, jealous, and alien sovereignties.


title: Multiculturalism

text: As a philosophy, multiculturalism began as part of the pragmatism movement at the end of the 19th century in Europe and the United States, then as political and cultural pluralism at the turn of the 20th century. It was partly in response to a new wave of European imperialism in sub-Saharan Africa and the massive immigration of Southern and Eastern Europeans to the United States and Latin America. Philosophers, psychologists and historians and early sociologists such as Charles Sanders Peirce, William James, George Santayana, Horace Kallen, John Dewey, W. E. B. Du Bois and Alain Locke developed concepts of cultural pluralism, from which emerged what we understand today as multiculturalism. In "Pluralistic Universe" (1909), William James espoused the idea of a "plural society." James saw pluralism as "crucial to the formation of philosophical and social humanism to help build a better, more egalitarian society.


title: Multiculturalism

text: The educational approach to multiculturalism has since spread to the grade school system, as school systems try to rework their curricula to introduce students to diversity earlier – often on the grounds that it is important for minority students to see themselves represented in the classroom. Studies estimated 46 million Americans ages 14 to 24 to be the most diverse generation in American society. In 2009 and 2010, controversy erupted in Texas as the state's curriculum committee made several changes to the state's requirements, often at the expense of minorities. They chose to juxtapose Abraham Lincoln's inaugural address with that of Confederate president Jefferson Davis; they debated removing Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and labor-leader Cesar Chavez and rejected calls to include more Hispanic figures, in spite of the high Hispanic population in the state.


title: Multiculturalism

text: In a 2007 study by Robert Putnam encompassing 30,000 people across the US found that diversity had a negative effect on civic engagement. The greater the diversity, the fewer people voted, the less they volunteered for community projects and trust among neighbours was only half that of homogenous communities. Putnam says, however, that "in the long run immigration and diversity are likely to have important cultural, economic, fiscal, and developmental benefits", as long as society successfully overcomes the short-term problems. Putnam adds that his "extensive research and experience confirm the substantial benefits of diversity, including racial and ethnic diversity, to our society."


title: Multiculturalism

text: Venezuela is the home to a variety of ethnic groups, with an estimated population of 32 million. Their population is composed of approximately 68% Mestizo, which means of mixed race. Venezuelan culture is mainly composed by the mixture of their indigenous culture, Spanish, and African. There was a heavy influence of Spaniard culture due to the Spanish Conquest, which influence their religion, language, traditions. African influence can be seen on their music. While Spanish is Venezuela's main language, there is more than 40 indigenous languages spoken til this day.


title: Multiculturalism

text: The European Union is facing unprecedented demographic changes (an aging population, low birth rates, changing family structures and migration). According to the European Commission, it is important, both at EU and national level, to review and adapt existing policies. Following a public debate, a 2006 EU policy paper identified five key policy responses to manage demographic change, among them receiving and integrating migrants into Europe.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Historically, Europe has always been a mixture of Latin, Slavic, Germanic, Uralic, Celtic, Hellenic, Illyrian, Thracian and other cultures influenced by the importation of Jewish, Christian, Muslim and other belief systems; although the continent was supposedly unified by the super-position of Imperial Roman Christianity, it is accepted that geographic and cultural differences continued from antiquity into the modern age.


title: Multiculturalism

text: In the nineteenth century, the ideology of nationalism transformed the way Europeans thought about the state. Existing states were broken up and new ones created; the new nation-states were founded on the principle that each nation is entitled to its own sovereignty and to engender, protect, and preserve its own unique culture and history. Unity, under this ideology, is seen as an essential feature of the nation and the nation-state; unity of descent, unity of culture, unity of language, and often unity of religion. The nation-state constitutes a culturally homogeneous society, although some national movements recognised regional differences.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Where cultural unity was insufficient, it was encouraged and enforced by the state. The nineteenth century nation-states developed an array of policies – the most important was compulsory primary education in the national language. The language itself was often standardised by a linguistic academy, and regional languages were ignored or suppressed. Some nation-states pursued violent policies of cultural assimilation and even ethnic cleansing.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Some countries in the European Union have introduced policies for "social cohesion", "integration", and (sometimes) "assimilation". The policies include:


title: Multiculturalism

text: Other countries have instituted policies which encourage cultural separation. The concept of "Cultural exception" proposed by France in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) negotiations in 1993 was an example of a measure aimed at protecting local cultures.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Since its establishment in the seventh century, Bulgaria has hosted many religions, ethnic groups and nations. The capital city Sofia is the only European city that has peacefully functioning, within walking distance of 300 metres, four Places of worship of the major religions: Eastern Orthodox (St Nedelya Church), Islam (Banya Bashi Mosque), Roman Catholicism (St. Joseph Cathedral), and Orthodox Judaism (Sofia Synagogue, the third-largest synagogue in Europe).


title: Multiculturalism

text: This unique arrangement has been called by historians a "multicultural cliche". It has also become known as "The Square of Religious Tolerance" and has initiated the construction of a 100-square-metre scale model of the site that is to become a symbol of the capital.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Furthermore, unlike some other Nazi Germany allies or German-occupied countries excluding Denmark, Bulgaria managed to save its entire 48,000-strong Jewish population during World War II from deportation to Nazi concentration camps. According to Dr Marinova-Christidi, the main reason for the efforts of Bulgarian people to save their Jewish population during WWII is that within the region, they "co-existed for centuries with other religions" – giving it a unique multicultural and multiethnic history.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Consequently, within the Balkan region, Bulgaria has become an example for multiculturalism in terms of variety of religions, artistic creativity and ethnicity. Its largest ethnic minority groups, Turks and Roma, enjoy wide political representation. In 1984, following a campaign by the Communist regime for a forcible change of the Islamic names of the Turkish minority, an underground organisation called «National Liberation Movement of the Turks in Bulgaria» was formed which headed the Turkish community's opposition movement. On 4 January 1990, the activists of the movement registered an organisation with the legal name Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) (in Bulgarian: Движение за права и свободи: in Turkish: Hak ve Özgürlükler Hareketi) in the Bulgarian city of Varna. At the moment of registration, it had 33 members, at present, according to the organisation's website, 68,000 members plus 24,000 in the organisation's youth wing . In 2012, Bulgarian Turks were represented at every level of government: local, with MRF having mayors in 35 municipalities, at parliamentary level with MRF having 38 deputies (14% of the votes in Parliamentary elections for 2009–13) and at executive level, where there is one Turkish minister, Vezhdi Rashidov. 21 Roma political organisations were founded between 1997-2003 in Bulgaria.


title: Multiculturalism

text: After the end of World War II in 1945, immigration significantly increased. During the period of reconstruction, France lacked the labour to do so, and as a result; the French Government was eager to recruit immigrants coming from all over Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Although there was a presence of, Vietnamese in France since the late-nineteenth century (mostly students and workers), a wave of Vietnamese migrated after 1954. These migrants consisted of those who were loyal to the colonial government and those married to French colonists. Following the partition of Vietnam, students and professionals from South Vietnam continued to arrive in France. Although many initially returned to the country after a few years, as the Vietnam War situation worsened, a majority decided to remain in France and brought their families over as well.


title: Multiculturalism

text: This period also saw a significant wave of immigrants from Algeria. As the Algerian War started in 1954, there were already 200,000 Algerian immigrants in France. However, because of the tension between the Algerians and the French, these immigrants were no longer welcome. This conflict between the two sides led to the Paris Massacre of 17 October 1961, when the police used force against an Algerian demonstration on the streets of Paris. After the war, after Algeria gained its independence, the free circulation between France and Algeria was once again allowed, and the number of Algerian immigrants started to increase drastically. From 1962-75, the Algerian immigrant population increased from 350,000 to 700,000. Many of these immigrants were known as the "harkis," and the others were known as the "pieds-noirs." The "harkis" were Algerians who supported the French during the Algerian War; once the war was over, they were deeply resented by other Algerians, and thus had to flee to France. The "pieds-noirs" were European settlers who moved to Algeria, but migrated back to France since 1962 when Algeria declared independence.


title: Multiculturalism

text: According to Erik Bleich, multiculturalism in France faced stiff resistance in the educational sector, especially regarding recent Muslim arrivals from Algeria. Gatekeepers often warned that multiculturalism was a threat to the historic basis of French culture.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Jeremy Jennings finds three positions among elites regarding the question of reconciling traditional French Republican principles with multiculturalism. The traditionalists refuse to make any concessions and instead insist on clinging to the historic republican principles of "laïcité" and the secular state in which religion and ethnicity are always ignored. In the middle are modernising republicans who uphold republicanism but also accept some elements of cultural pluralism. Finally there are multiculturalist republicans who envision a pluralist conception of French identity and seek an appreciation of the positive values brought to France by the minority cultures.


title: Multiculturalism

text: A major attack on multiculturalism came in Stasi Report of 2003 which denounces "Islamism" as deeply opposed to the mainstream interpretations of French culture. It is portrayed as a dangerous political agenda that will create a major obstacle for Muslims to comply with French secularism or "laïcité ". Murat Akan, however, argues that the Stasi Report and the new regulations against the hijab and religious symbols in the schools must be set against gestures toward multiculturalism, such as the creation of Muslim schools under contract with the government.


title: Multiculturalism

text: In October 2010, Angela Merkel told a meeting of younger members of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party at Potsdam, near Berlin, that attempts to build a multicultural society in Germany had "utterly failed", stating: "The concept that we are now living side by side and are happy about it does not work". She continued to say that immigrants should integrate and adopt Germany's culture and values. This has added to a growing debate within Germany on the levels of immigration, its effect on Germany and the degree to which middle eastern immigrants have integrated into German society. In 2015, Merkel again criticized multiculturalism on the grounds that it leads to parallel societies.


title: Multiculturalism

text: The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of Germany is the first Muslim group to have been granted "corporation under public law status", putting the community on par with the major Christian churches and Jewish communities of Germany.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Luxembourg has one of the highest foreign-born populations in Europe, foreigners account for nearly half of the country's total population. The majority of foreigners are from: Belgium, France, Italy, Germany, and Portugal. In total, 170 different nationalities make up the population of Luxembourg, out of this; 86% are of European descent. The official languages of Luxembourg are German, French, and Luxembourgish all of which are supported in the Luxembourg government and education system. In 2005, Luxembourg officially promoted and implemented the objectives of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. This Convention affirms multicultural policies in Luxembourg and creates political awareness of cultural diversity.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Multiculturalism in the Netherlands began with major increases in immigration to the Netherlands during the mid-1950s and 1960s. As a consequence, an official national policy of multiculturalism was adopted in the early-1980s. Different groups could themselves determine religious and cultural matters, while state authorities would handle matters of housing and work policy.


title: Multiculturalism

text: In the 1990s, the public debate were generally optimistic on immigration and the prevailing view was that a multicultural policy would reduce the social economic disparities over time.


title: Multiculturalism

text: This policy subsequently gave way to more assimilationist policies in the 1990s and post-electoral surveys uniformly showed from 1994 onwards that a majority preferred that immigrants assimilated rather than retained the culture of their country of origin.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Following the September 11 attacks in the United States and the murders of Pim Fortuyn (in 2002) and Theo van Gogh (in 2004) there was increased political debate on the role of multiculturalism in the Netherlands.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Lord Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, made a distinction between tolerance and multiculturalism, citing the Netherlands as a tolerant, rather than multicultural, society. In June 2011, the First Rutte cabinet said the Netherlands would turn away from multiculturalism: "Dutch culture, norms and values must be dominant" Minister Donner said.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Since Antiquity, Romania has hosted many religious and ethnic groups, including Roma people, Hungarians, Germans, Turks, Greeks, Tatars, Slovaks, Serbs, Jews and others. Unfortunately, during the WW2 and the Communism, most of these ethnic groups choose to emigrate to other countries. However, since 1990s, Romania has expected a growing number of immigrants and refugees, most of them from the Arab World, Asia or Africa. Immigration is expected to increase in the future, as large numbers of Romanian workers leave the country and are being replaced by foreigners.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Multiculturalism in Scandinavia has centered on discussions about marriage, dress, religious schools, Muslim funeral rites and gender equality. Forced marriages have been widely debated in Denmark, Sweden and Norway but the countries differ in policy and responses by authorities.


title: Multiculturalism

text: In 2001, Denmark a liberal-conservative coalition government with the support of the Danish People's Party which instituted less pluralistic policy, more geared towards assimilation.


title: Multiculturalism

text: A 2018 study found that increases in local ethnic diversity in Denmark caused "rightward shifts in election outcomes by shifting electoral support away from traditional "big government" left‐wing parties and towards anti‐immigrant nationalist parties."


title: Multiculturalism

text: For decades, Danish immigration policy was built upon the belief that, with support, immigrants and their descendants would eventually reach the same levels of education as Danes. In a 2019 report, the Danish Immigration Service and the Ministry of Education found this to be false. The report found that, while the second-generation immigrants without a Western background do better than their parents, the same is not true for third-generation immigrants. One of the reasons given was that second-generation immigrants may marry someone from their country of origin, which may cause Danish not to be spoken at home, which would put the children at a disadvantage in school. Thereby, the process of integrating has to start from the beginning for each generation.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Apart from citizens of Nordic countries, all foreigners must apply for permanent residency in order to live and work in Norway. In 2017, the Norwegian immigrant population was made up of: citizens of EU and EEA countries (41.2%); citizens of Asian countries, including Turkey (32.4%); citizens of African countries (13.7%); and citizens of non-EU/EEA European, North American, South American and Oceanian countries (12.7%).


title: Multiculturalism

text: In 2015, during the European migrant crisis, a total of 31,145 asylum seekers, most of whom came from Afghanistan and Syria, crossed the Norwegian border. In 2016, the number of asylum seekers dramatically reduced by almost 90%, with 3460 asylum seekers coming to Norway. This was partly due to the stricter border control across Europe, including an agreement between the EU and Turkey.


title: Multiculturalism

text: As of September 2019, 15 foreign residents who had travelled from Norway to Syria or Iraq to join the Islamic State have had their residence permits revoked.


title: Multiculturalism

text: The Progress Party has named the reduction of high levels of immigration from non-European countries one of their goals:


title: Multiculturalism

text: An extreme form of opposition to immigration in Norway were the 22/7 attacks carried out by the terrorist Anders Behring Breivik on 22 July 2011. He killed 8 people by bombing government buildings in Oslo and massacred 69 young people at a youth summer camp held by the Labour Party, who were in power at the time. He blamed the party for the high level of Muslim immigration and accused it of "promoting multiculturalism."


title: Multiculturalism

text: Sweden has from the early 1970s experienced a greater share of non-Western immigration than the other Scandinavian countries, which consequently have placed multiculturalism on the political agenda for a longer period of time.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Sweden was the first country to adopt an official policy of multiculturalism in Europe. On 14 May 1975, a unanimous Swedish parliament passed an act on a new multiculturalist immigrant and ethnic minority policy put forward by the social democratic government, that explicitly rejected the ideal ethnic homogeneity and the policy of assimilation. The three main principles of the new policy were equality, partnership and freedom of choice. The explicit policy aim of the freedom of choice principle was to create the opportunity for minority groups in Sweden to retain their own languages and cultures. From the mid-1970s, the goal of enabling the preservation of minorities and creating a positive attitude towards the new officially endorsed multicultural society among the majority population became incorporated into the Swedish constitution as well as cultural, educational and media policies. Despite the anti-multiculturalist protestations of the Sweden Democrats, multiculturalism remains official policy in Sweden.


title: Multiculturalism

text: A 2008 study which involved questionnaires sent to 5,000 people, showed that less than a quarter of the respondents (23%) wanted to live in areas characterised by cultural, ethnic and social diversity.


title: Multiculturalism

text: A 2014 study published by Gävle University College showed that 38% of the population never interacted with anyone from Africa and 20% never interacted with any non-Europeans. The study concluded that while physical distance to the country of origin, also religion and other cultural expressions are significant for the perception of cultural familiarity. In general, peoples with Christianity as the dominant religion were perceived to be culturally closer than peoples from Muslim countries.


title: Multiculturalism

text: A 2017 study by Lund University also found that social trust was lower among people in regions with high levels of past non-Nordic immigration than among people in regions with low levels of past immigration. The erosive effect on trust was more pronounced for immigration from culturally distant countries.


title: Multiculturalism

text: In Serbia, there are 19 officially recognised ethnic groups with a status of national minorities. Vojvodina is an autonomous province of Serbia, located in the northern part of the country. It has a multiethnic and multicultural identity; there are more than 26 ethnic groups in the province, which has six official languages. Largest ethnic groups in Vojvodina are Serbs (67%), Hungarians (13%), Slovaks, Croats, Romani, Romanians, Montenegrins, Bunjevci, Bosniaks, Rusyns. The Chinese and Arabs, are the only two significant immigrant minorities in Serbia.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Radio Television of Vojvodina broadcasts program in ten local languages. The project by the Government of AP Vojvodina titled "Promotion of Multiculturalism and Tolerance in Vojvodina", whose primary goal is to foster the cultural diversity and develop the atmosphere of interethnic tolerance among the citizens of Vojvodina, has been successfully implemented since 2005. Serbia is continually working on improving its relationship and inclusion of minorities in its effort to gain full accession to the European Union. Serbia has initiated talks through Stabilisation and Association Agreement on 7 November 2007.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Multicultural policies were adopted by local administrations from the 1970s and 1980s onwards. In 1997, the newly elected Labour government committed to a multiculturalist approach at a national level, but after 2001, there was something of a backlash, led by centre-left commentators such as David Goodhart and Trevor Phillips. The Government then embraced a policy of community cohesion instead. In 2011, Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron said in a speech that "state multiculturalism has failed". Critics argue that analyses which view society as 'too diverse' for social democracy and cohesion have "performative" effects that legitimate racism towards those classed as immigrants.


title: Multiculturalism

text: The idea of multiculturalism in Russia is closely linked to the territory and the Soviet concept of "nationality". The Federation is divided into a series of republics where each ethnic group has preponderance in deciding the laws that affect that republic. A distinction is then made between "Rossiyane" (Russian citizens) and "Russkie" (ethnic Russians).


title: Multiculturalism

text: Each people within their territories has the right to practice their customs and traditions and even to impose their own laws, as is the case in Chechnya, as long as they do not violate federal and constitutional laws of the Russian Federation.


title: Multiculturalism

text: According to the 1961 Census of India, there are 1652 indigenous languages in the country. The culture of India has been shaped by its long history, unique geography and diverse demography. India's languages, religions, dance, music, architecture and customs differ from place to place within the country, but nevertheless possess a commonality. The culture of India is an amalgamation of these diverse sub-cultures spread all over the Indian subcontinent and traditions that are several millennia old. The previously prevalent Indian caste system describes the social stratification and social restrictions in the Indian subcontinent, in which social classes are defined by thousands of endogamous hereditary groups, often termed "jātis" or castes.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Religiously, Hindus form the majority, followed by Muslims. The statistics are: Hindu (79.8%), Muslim (14.2%), Christian (2.3%), Sikh (1.7%), Buddhist (0.7%), Jain (0.4%), Unaffiliated (0.23%), Baháʼís, Jews, Zoroastrians, and others (0.65%). Linguistically, the two main language families in India are Indo-Aryan (a branch of Indo-European) and Dravidian. In India's northeast, people speaking Sino-Tibetan group of languages such as Meitei (Meitei-lon) recognized by the Indian constitution and Austroasiatic languages are commonly found. India (officially) follows a three-language policy. Hindi (spoken in the form of Hindustani) is the official federal language, English has the federal status of associate/subsidiary official language and each state has its own state official language (in the Hindi "sprachraum", this reduces to bilingualism). Further, India does not have any national language. The Republic of India's state boundaries are largely drawn based on linguistic groups; this decision led to the preservation and continuation of local ethno-linguistic sub-cultures, except for the Hindi "sprachraum" which is itself divided into many states. Thus, most states differ from one another in language, culture, cuisine, clothing, literary style, architecture, music and festivities.


title: Multiculturalism

text: India has encountered religiously motivated violence, such as the Moplah Riots, the Bombay riots, the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, the 1990 Exodus of Kashmiri Hindus, the 2002 Gujarat riots, the 2008 Mumbai attacks, the 2012 Assam violence, the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots, and the 2020 Delhi riots. This has resulted from traditionally disadvantaged communities in public employment such as the policing of the same locality, apprehension of owners in giving properties for sale or rent and of society in accepting inter-marriages.


title: Multiculturalism

text: The Indian constitution requires the various state-run institutions to provide quotas for minorities, which give these cultural minorities equal opportunities, as well as a forum through which they can actively participate in the institutions of the dominant culture. Indian polity after the 1990s has been marked by a shift from secular principles to a landscape that is dominated by pro-Hindu propaganda; the BJP has used this rhetoric by reconstructing Hinduism and bartering it under the guise of Indian nationalism. However, the rise of pro-Hindu ideology, commonly known as Hindutva, has impinged on the rights of cultural minorities. This can be seen in the large scale violence against cultural minorities, the vote-bank politics used by the Indian National Congress, and the promotion of issues faced by the larger religious communities over those faced by the backward groups in religious minorities.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are constitutionally recognized terms in India and constitute approximately 25% of the Indian population. Moreover more than 40 percent of India's population belongs to the Other Backward Castes as per the National Sample Survey Office or the NSSO which is a government organization for conducting surveys in India. So the total size of the lower castes in India is estimated to be around 70 percent of the country's population whereas the upper caste make up around 18 percent of the population. It has also been noted that a person of the upper caste generally tends to be fairer in skin whereas the lower caste tend to be darker. These groups have been provided with reservations that constitutionally guarantee them representation in governmental institutions, a mandate suggested by the Mandal Commission. The Indian constitution also provides SC's and ST's with protective measures that ensure equality, which is the main issue faced by members of both communities. However, while scheduled castes have turned into important political communities that the state concerns itself about, scheduled tribes continue to be politically marginalized.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Pluralism, diversity and multiculturalism is a daily fact of life in Indonesia. There are over 1,300 ethnic groups in Indonesia. 95% of those are of Native Indonesian ancestry. The Javanese are the largest ethnic group in Indonesia who make up nearly 42% of the total population. The Sundanese, Malay, and Madurese are the next largest groups in the country. There are also more than 700 living languages spoken in Indonesia and although predominantly Muslim the country also has large Christian and Hindu populations.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Indonesia's national motto, "Bhinneka Tunggal Ika" ("Unity in Diversity" lit. "many, yet one") enshrined in Pancasila the national ideology, articulates the diversity that shapes the country. The government nurtures and promotes the diversity of Indonesian local culture; adopting a pluralist approach.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Due to migration within Indonesia (as part of government transmigration programs or otherwise), there are significant populations of ethnic groups who reside outside of their traditional regions. The Javanese for example, moved from their traditional homeland in Java to the other parts of the archipelago. The expansion of the Javanese and their influence throughout Indonesia has raised the issue of Javanization, although Minangkabau, Malay, Madurese, Bugis and Makassar people, as a result of their "merantau" (migrating) culture are also quite widely distributed throughout the Indonesian archipelago, while Chinese Indonesians can be found in most urban areas. Because of urbanization, major Indonesian cities such as Greater Jakarta, Surabaya, Bandung, Palembang, Medan and Makassar have attracted large numbers of Indonesians from various ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds. Jakarta in particular has almost all Indonesian ethnic groups represented.


title: Multiculturalism

text: However, this transmigration program and close interactions between people of different cultural backgrounds caused socio-cultural problems, as the inter-ethnics interactions have not always been conducted harmoniously. After the fall of Suharto in 1998 into the 2000s, numbers of inter-ethnic and inter-religious clashes erupted in Indonesia. Like the clashes between native Dayak tribes against Madurese transmigrants in Kalimantan during Sambas riots in 1999 and the Sampit conflict in 2001. There were also clashes between Muslims and Christians, such as violence erupted in Poso between 1998 and into 2000, and violences in Maluku between 1999 and into 2002. Nevertheless, Indonesia today still struggles and has managed to maintain unity and inter-cultural harmony, through a national adherence of pro-pluralism policy of Pancasila; promoted and enforced by the government and its people.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Chinese Indonesians are the largest foreign-origin minority that has resided in Indonesia for generations. Despite centuries of acculturation with native Indonesians, because of their disproportionate influence on Indonesian economy, and alleged question of national loyalty, Chinese Indonesians have suffered discrimination. The Suharto "Orde Baru" or New Order adopted a forced assimilation policy; which indicated that Chinese cultural elements were unacceptable. Chinese Indonesians were forced to adopt Indonesian-sounding names, and the use of Chinese culture and language was banned. The violence targeting Chinese Indonesians erupted during riots in 1998. As the looting and destruction took place, a number of Chinese Indonesians, as well as looters, were killed. The Chinese Indonesians were treated as the scapegoat of 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, a result of ongoing discrimination and segregation policies enforced during Suharto's New Order regime. Soon after the fourth Indonesian President, Abdurrahman Wahid came into power in 1999, he quickly abolished some of the discriminatory laws in efforts to promote acceptance and to improve inter-racial relationships, such as abolishing the ban on Chinese culture; allowing Chinese traditions to be practised freely. Two years later President Megawati Sukarnoputri declared that the Chinese New Year ("") would be marked as a national holiday from 2003. Tense incidents however have included attacks on Chinese temples and Indonesian politician Basuki Tjahaja Purnama being given a 2 year prison sentence for blasphemy due to comments he made to his supporters on September 2016.


title: Multiculturalism

text: There are sizeable populations of ethnic Kazakhs, Russians, Uzbeks, Ukrainians, Uighurs, Tatars, Germans and more in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan was one of a few countries in post-Soviet territories that avoided interethnic clashes and conflicts in the period of USSR’s final crisis and its eventual breakup. In 1995, Kazakhstan created the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan, an advisory body designed to represent the country's ethnic minorities. However, recent ethnic clashes and discrimination have been reported for groups such as Christians, ultraconservative Muslims, ethnic Dungans, Chechens, Tajiks, and LGBT people.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Malaysia is a multiethnic country, with Malays making up the majority, close to 58% of the population. About 25% of the population are Malaysians of Chinese descent. Malaysians of Indian descent comprise about 7% of the population. The remaining 10% comprises:


title: Multiculturalism

text: The Malaysian New Economic Policy or NEP serves as a form of "racial equalization" in the view of the Malay-controlled government. It promotes structural changes in various aspects of life from education to economic to social integration. Established after the 13 May racial riots of 1969, it sought to address the "significant imbalance" in the economic sphere where the minority especially the Chinese population had substantial control over commercial activity in the country. Critics of this policy has called it synonymous to racial discrimination and synonymous to Apartheid.


title: Multiculturalism

text: The Malay Peninsula has a long history of international trade contacts, influencing its ethnic and religious composition. Predominantly Malays before the 18th century, the ethnic composition changed dramatically when the British introduced new industries, and imported Chinese and Indian labor. Several regions in the then British Malaya such as Penang, Malacca and Singapore became Chinese dominated. Until the riots 1969, co-existence between the three ethnicities (and other minor groups) was largely peaceful, although the three main racial groups for the most part lived in separate communities – the Malays in the villages, the Chinese in the urban areas, and the Indians in the towns and plantation. More Malays however have moved into the cities since the 1970s, and the proportion of the non-Malays have been decreasing continually, especially the Chinese, due in large part to lower birth-rate and emigration as a result of institutionalized discrimination.


title: Multiculturalism

text: Preceding independence of the Federation of Malaya, a social contract was negotiated as the basis of a new society. The contract as reflected in the 1957 Malayan Constitution and the 1963 Malaysian Constitution states that the immigrant groups are granted citizenship, and Malays' special rights are guaranteed. This is often referred to the Bumiputra policy.


title: Multiculturalism

text: These pluralist policies have come under pressure from racialist Malay parties, who oppose perceived subversion of Malay rights. The issue is sometimes related to the controversial status of religious freedom in Malaysia.