Toward Multiculturalism through American Ethnic Studies in the Globalizing World

Toward Multiculturalism through American Ethnic Studies in the Globalizing World

&nbsp;&nbsp;This paper aims to develop several ideas of multiculturalism, American ethnic studies, and American globalization to better understand the relationships among them. The U.S. can be a center of globalization process. While the term ‘globalization’ originates from the area of international trade and business, this paper tries to focus on the cultural aspects of globalization. Academia and government in the U.S. have developed policies emphasizing ethnic diversity and multiculturalism that embrace incoming immigrants. Ethnic studies is an area in academia to understand others and intersect the common experience among different cultures in the U.S. While many Americans try to de-emphasize racial differences, ethnicity emerges as rather an important term in the process of globalization in the U.S. Different and diverse cultures in the U.S. are exposed to the mass with their own ways of lives, religions, food, and customs, but they still believe all of them are Americans enough to assume the same American identity.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;This paper attempts to define globalization, which is quite different from American nationalism, imperialism, or internationalism. Globalization exists somewhere between the First World metropolitan global city and the Third World NGO’s indigenous area, between multiculturalism and ethnicity. It has its own “world system” by intervening in international civil society. With a global spirit people go with transnational idea, and migrate to several metropolitan global cities to earn money. Most of the monetary fund is poured into the global cities, where people enjoy their diverse and unique cultures in their own imagined community. That is the reason ethnic belonging and ethnic studies should be embraced as part of globalization in the U.S.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;In conclusion, this paper contends that a vision that the equality of multicultural phenomena in the U.S. can accomplish the ideal model of globalization for the world. So everybody who tries to move toward globalism feels at home even in a global city, and they can succeed in their pursuits of reaching beyond nationalism.