Razprave in gradivo,Ljubljana, March 1986, No.18 
Peter Klinar 
Faculty of Sociology, 
Political 
Science and Journalism 
Ljubljana, Yugoslavia 
UDC 323.15.316.356.72 
SOCIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF MULTICULTURALISM: THE CONCEPT OF CULTURAL 
PLURALISM (MULTICULTURALISM) AND ITS DEVELOPMENT* 
The discussion about education in multicultural societies is 
based on the theoretical groundwork of inter-ethnic relations, of 
which multiculturalism - or cultural pluralism - is an important 
part. 
The processes of differentiation in the modern world create 
scores of types of pluralism: political, ideological, cultural, 
structural, institutional, etec., pluralism. The processes of 
differentiation are undoubtedly associated with the development 
of democratism, decentralization of tolerance, with the attempts 
aiming to reduce the extent of various aspects of social 
inequality. It is also true that processes of cultural pluralism 
arise also in critical developmental stages. Refugees and migrant 
workers who, for instance, immigrate in critical periods, break 
down the traditional ethnic homogeneity of the autochthonous 
population that may in due course react against them for reasons 
of competition and their endangered status (problems of 
unemployment), by adopting various discriminatory measures, etc. 
Yet it is in this very manner that multi-ethnic social 
communities are in fact created. Sooner or later, such societies 
have to begin fighting xenophobia and discrimination, which - 
viewed from the long-term perspective - does not preclude the 
development of elements of the policy of multiculturalism 
associated with the reduction of centralization, emergence of 
social inequality, and alienation. 
Pluralistic developments exercise an influence not only on 
diverse facets of social life but also on its diverse levels. 
These phenomena can be found on the local regional level, just as 
they can also concern the national and international levels. 
Phenomena relating to cultural pluralism are especially important 
on the level of various ethnic communities, countries, and of the 
international community. 
If we equate cultural Pluralism and multiculturalism, then we 
investigate the relations (processes) between different ethnic 
To: in regional, national, or international communities 
( environment and geographical space). We are also 
interested in changes in these relations (processes). 
Multiculturalism can 
acknowledged 
relations, 
concerning 
be characterized as the universally 
progressive theoretical basis of inter-ethnic 
oo represents a denial of controversial views 
e withering away and the disappearance of nations, 
  
* Original: Slovene, 23 pages 
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Razprave in gradivo,Ljubljana, March 1986, No.18 
or their coercive assimilation. Multiculturalism means conceding 
the ethnic identity to ethnic groups, recognizing and fostering 
their specific culture, which is the groundwork for the 
participation and joining of ethnic groups. In other words, 
conjunctive processes between ethnic groups cannot develop 
without the presence of cultural pluralism. 
Cultural pluralism stands for the maintenance and promotion of 
ethnic specificities. It calls for mutual tolerance between 
ethnic groups, their autonomous activities, and their equality. 
It leaves no room for the domination of ethnic groups over other 
ethnic groups, and opposes any kind of domination of one culture 
over other cultures. In other words, phenomena of cultural 
pluralism can only develop by transcending the ethnic 
stratification and the division of society into the privileged 
majority and underprivileged ethnic minorities. Cultural 
pluralism stimulates the cumulative union of identities and 
complementarities of differences, which means that society at 
large, which consists of the plurality of ethnic groups, attains 
to internal cohesion and integration. The existence of 
multifarious cultures breeds various - including conflicting - 
interests that clash and harmonize with each other. Since 
cultural ethnic phenomena are collective in nature, we must add 
that one should call for the development of such ethnic 
collectives as are not set above the individual or pitted against 
him. Only those ethnic groups which do not dominate their own 
members, but rather cultivate their values on the basis of 
dialectical interactions between concrete and more general 
interests, are in fact able to further inter-ethnic relations 
according to the principles of cultural pluralism. Cultural 
pluralism in the relations between ethnic groups can be reached, 
provided that the ethnic culture unites its members to form a 
group according to the principles that have been referred to here 
as the principles of cultural pluralism in the relations between 
ethnic groups. It may not be superfluous to add that cultural 
pluralism as a phenomenon that can develop fully only in the 
context of non-hierarchical social relations or in the context of 
markedly restricted instances of social inequality, stimulates 
participation or even self-management of individuals and groups. 
Participation, establishment of friendly relations, and even 
dynamic confrontation of different cultures, can all be achieved 
on the level of the activities of free, informed, active, 
interested subjects that establish their interrelationships for 
reasons other than constraint, hierarchical subordination, and 
the like. 
Hindrances to the Development of Real Cultural Pluralism 
There is no ideal type of any existing cultural pluralism. The 
processes acting in opposition to the widespread establishment of 
cultural pluralism are diverse: a variety of phenomena 
originating in social inequality, among them ethnic 
stratification, deep-rooted differences and contrasts between 
cultures based on tradition, instances of prejudices and negative 
stereotypes, xenophobia, regressive nationalism, ethnocentrism, 
ethnic distance, numerous discriminatory and segregative 
activities, communication barriers, unitarian tendencies, and 
well-developed monisms. 
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Today, cultural pluralism, conceived of as a matter-of-fact 
inter-ethnic relationship, can be seen only in its initial forms 
of appearance, OF exists but in the stage of a conceptual 
nucleus. The fact remains that social practice is nearer to the 
actual relations of social | stratification - ethnic 
stratification, in our Case — and it is this stratification which 
brings about the domination and subordination of cultures, when 
the policy of ethnic stratification is brought face to face with 
the surviving assimilative measures, Such a policy, of course, 
cannot be expected to have a beneficial effect on the development 
of pluralism of cultures. 
The activities of subordinated ethnic groups or of ethnic 
minorities have likewise been too slight. We encounter the 
passivity of numerically inferior ethnic minorities that are not 
aggressive enough and that consequently isolate themselves 
inactively within the confines of their living space, thus opting 
for segregation of their own accord. We also encounter the 
tendency to secessionism. In this way, a number of ethnic 
minorities fail even to make a concerted effort to alter the 
existing inequalities in inter-ethnic relations. Also, one should 
not ignore the assimilationist segments of the ethnic minorities 
that were subjected to forced assimilation; nor should one 
overlook the minorities which passively acknowledge their 
minority status and remain conformable to the majority rule in 
order to get the possibility of getting rid of their 
underprivileged ethnicity and thereby to join the dominant ethnic 
majority, hoping that this would also improve their overall 
social status. There exist also such ethnic groups as engage 
themselves in trying to get rid of their minority status, but 
whose efforts fail to result in ethnic pluralism. 
The efforts of ethnic minorities at shedding their minority 
status by effecting no revolutionary alteration of the relations 
of social inequality, indicate that in such cases these very 
minorities assume the role of the dominant majority, and that the 
relations of ethnic stratification are hence prolonged 
indefinitely. 
Lower and middle classes and strata making up the majority of 
contemporary refugees and other migrants, encounter in their new 
social environment existential problems as well as a variety of 
forms of discrimination and xenophobia, particularly in present~- 
day recession circumstances. Quite often, they settle down 
temporarily and are thus geographically dispersed. The situation 
being such, it is easy to understand why they do not insist on 
the appreciation of their culture. They are quick to understand 
that their culture, representing as it does the origin of their 
dissimilarity, is the stumbling block preventing their 
integration with the new social environment. Depression or 
similar conditions reduce the possibility of free expression of 
culture even on the part of contemporary migrant workers. 
Emigrants receive less help and scant attention from their 
original emigrant societies, immigrant societies become 
indisposed to associate with immigrant cultures, while the native 
majority population grows more and more xenophobic. Permanently 
settled immigrants feel that they can alter their status by 
becoming assimilated. Declarations of multiculturalism and 
integration of immigrants on this basis, quite widespread in 
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Razprave in gradivo,Ljubljana, March 1986, No.18 
immigrant societies, represent attempts at securing social peace 
and hushing up the economic and social discrimination of 
immigrants. It is therefore hardly surprising that contemporary 
migrants advocate a number of conflicting views. Being equal to 
the majority native population spells assimilation, whereas 
remaining different means keeping a lower social status and 
living in considerable isolation, viz. within one's immigrant 
ethnic community. We may conclude that ways to factual cultural 
pluralism can be traced via mitigating the minority status of 
ethnic minorities, improving their social status, and bettering 
their social security. Since, however, in the case of immigrants 
this is frequently only a second-generation development, it is 
crucial for them to preserve their culture and not to submit to 
assimilative forces. 
Simultaneous and Successive Socialization Processes in Diverse 
Cultures 
Cultural pluralism is the basic element of inter-ethnic 
relations. Linguistic pluralism in turn represents a salient 
component of cultural pluralism. The problem of multilingualism 
is connected with the processes of socialization, with the 
simultaneous learning of the mother tongue and of the second 
language or other languages as well as with the simultaneous 
integration into two or more cultures, or with successive 
learning: the learning of the mother tongue and of the 
corresponding culture is followed by acculturative processes, the 
learning of another language and culture. 
The first case is simpler, and both cultures get firmly anchored 
in a uniform socialization process. The important point here is 
that acculturative processes are not required, since bilingual 
and muliticultural socialization occurs at the same time as the 
process of primary socialization or enculturation, which goes on 
and intensifies the process of school education. It is during 
this process that fundamental multicultural values and 
specificities of various cultures are acquired that become deep- 
rooted, which allows for a more integrated identification on the 
multicultural level. The parallel enculturation in two languages 
creates the dynamic possibilities of a simultaneous incorporation 
into several cultures; socialized in such a manner and thus 
enriched, the personality in question must draw on competitive 
comparison and cooperative rivalry between the two cultures in 
order to ferret out the positive, progressive characteristics of 
each culture, This in turn stimulates creativity, wider 
communication and open-mindedness to diversity. In this manner, 
one acquires a sense of pluralistic thinking and behavior. 
However, given the present reality of ethnic stratification, the 
individuals who undergo such a parallel socialization in two 
cultures, cannot avoid a number of conflicts arising from 
conflicting values, disparate valuation of cultures, conflicts 
between ethnic minorities and majority populations. 
Multiculturally enculturated individuals do face and experience 
phenomena of marginality; they are affected by the ambivalence of 
values and suffer from a double identification of some kind, or 
no identification at all, vacillation, all of which can be 
counteracted by the phenomena of social pathology. Under the 
present conditions of ethinic inequality and ethnocentrism it is 
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Razprave in gradivo,Ljubljana, March 1986, No.18 
quite possible that a multiculturally enculturated personality is 
affected by prominent cases of the emergence of social 
disorganization. 
Multiculturalism developing on a parallel with enculturation in 
two or more cultures is a complex phenomenon. It has without 
doubt yet to develop on a large scale because of the numerous 
hindrances mentioned above; moreover, it necessitates a certain 
intellectual level of the population, whereby its positive 
effects may be asserted. Peaceful coexistence among ethnic groups 
in the context of multiculturalism acquired abreast means, of 
course, that individuals enculturated in such a way accept their 
ethnic identity according to the principles of inborn status, 
which in many ways depends on the primary socialization carried 
out within the original family. However, this ethnic identity 
does not stand for their ethnic superiority to another culture or 
other cultures in the sense of the relations of ethnic 
stratification. Additionally, such a social disposition can in 
particular mean that the ethnic groups that can use their own 
language in public are few in number, which is to be understood 
as eradication of diglossia. Diglossia used to enable ethnic 
minorities to use their languages in primary family and friendly 
relations, while in secondary relations of public life, in their 
jobs, etc., they were forced to employ the language of the 
dominant ethnic minority. 
The preceding proposal can be implemented in culturally and 
linguistically mixed areas, where various ethnic groups live 
having the status of autochthonous populations. An open problem, 
nevertheless, can be observed with respect to multiculturalism of 
the societies into which different ethnic groups have been 
penetrating and in which parallel multicultural enculturation of 
second- and third-generation immigrants takes place. 
The processes of successive socialization in two or more cultures 
occur together with double processes of enculturation. Processes 
of enculturation in the original parents’ culture are joined by 
such processes of enculturation in the culture of the immigrant 
society as occur in corresponding peer groups. Along with the 
processes of single or double enculturation, processes of accul- 
turation are started at the same time - these are processes of 
secondary socialization in the new culture of the immigrant 
society. Acculturative processes occurring in one’s early youth 
are of paramount importance, because they restrict the processes 
of enculturation in the original culture. In this respect, one 
must be aware that acculturative processes take place in the 
context of the immigrant-culture domination, which is not 
conducive to the assertion of cultural pluralism, We can safely 
state that the categories of second-generation immigrants that 
are enculturated in two cultures or which are enculturated in one 
culture and acculturated in the other, often waver between two 
cultures, the prevailing culture being either that of the parents 
or that of the immigrant society. The culture of the immigrant 
society can prevail because of the parallel occurrence of the 
processes of enculturation in the culture of the immigrant 
society and of the processes of acculturation that kept modifying 
the original parents' culture. Such a development transforms the 
beginnings of cultural pluralism into the assimilation of second- 
generation immigrants. The intermediate phase, during which mem- 
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Razprave in gradivo,Ljubljana, March 1986, No.18 
bers of the second generation find themselves poised between the 
two cultures, is especially complicated. In such a case, margin- 
ality occurs as well as insufficient, semi-literate knowledge of 
one's native language and of the language of the immigrant 
society; conflicts arise between the two cultures and their 
values, split personalities are brought into being, instances of 
social disorganization and pathology can be observed, 
In order that second-generation immigrants might avoid the 
intermediate cultural situation that may be labeled semicultural, 
so that chances might materialize of favoring the growth of 
cultural pluralism, it is exceedingly important for them to have 
supplementary schooling in the language and culture of their 
parents. 
The processes of enculturation in the mother tongue and the 
processes of acculturation in the second language, as well as the 
processes of double enculturation and acculturation, can be 
observed also in autonomous ethnic minorities. 
The Social Status of Class and of Ethnicity 
Cultural pluralism cannot be generated in the context of ethnic 
stratification that is based upon deep-set phenomena of social 
inequality, in particular class inequality. Since ethnic 
minorities and immigrants have a lower social status and for the 
most part represent lower social classes and strata than members 
of the dominant ethnic minority or native population, their 
cultures do not stand a chance of achieving the status on a par 
with the culture of the autochthonous majority population. Ifa 
large number of the members of ethnic minorities and immigrants 
have to concern themselves with questions of survival, they 
certainly have fewer possibilities of asserting their ethnicity 
and their deeper ethnic identification, and of furthering succes- 
sfully cultural pluralism. In this case, class and ethnic lines 
overlap. The preponderant segment of the underprivileged ethnic 
minority forms part of lower social classes and strata. On the 
other hand, the prospects for the development of cultural 
pluralism are more favorable when ethnic and class lines do not 
overlap, meaning that within underprivileged ethnic minorities 
there emerge members of middle and higher classes and strata, 
which is to say that their social structure approaches that of 
the dominant ethnic majority. In this case, one has to concen~ 
trate on the task of limiting discriminatory measures whereby 
dominant majority wants to lower the social status of aaa e 
members of the given ethnic minority, irrespective of their € aaa 
or stratal membership, because of their very ethnic ace 
In this manner, the dominant majority tries to Ric acca 
privileged ethnic status, that is, the relations of et es nial 
tification. In a society that sanctions various, S0rne ality in 
inequality in general and various types of ethnic ét ion 
particular, it is on these foundations that ae opines heer 
arises, which prevents cultural pluralism ec oie open to out- 
theless, a well-developed ethnic community t x of its internal 
side activities and that encourages the oer assertion of its 
mobility, is able to enter the fight for ovis with the other 
culture in dealings with others, on a Lee ethnic groups. 
competitors including even numerically super 
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Under the existing conditions, it is quite inappropriate to hold 
a discussion about the existence of the phenomena of social and 
ethnic inequality without referring to the principal hindrances 
to the growth of cultural pluralism, namely global conflicts 
between the developed and the developing societies and ethnic 
communities. In times of crisis, the gap between the 
underdeveloped emigrant societies and their developed immigrant 
counterparts only grows larger. 
The technological development and the development of social 
structure in underdeveloped areas lag behind. The social status 
of immigrants and underprivileged ethnic minorities is 
emphatically low and can be designated sub-proletarian; large 
percentages of unemployment among them represent a commonplace 
reality. In this manner, assimilation as a prerequisite for 
attaining social promotion is even more prominent. These, then, 
are to be regarded as major clear-cut hindrances to the 
implementation of multiculturalism. 
Processes of Adaptation 
There are several basic social processes that are related to 
cultural pluralism, adaptation being the one that must be 
mentioned first. The theoretical essence of adaptation is that 
when different cultures come into contact with one another, one's 
own original culture is being preserved and fostered, while at 
the same time the new culture is being absorbed as well. 
Essentially, this process involves the preservation of what is 
original and the acceptance of what is new in the processes of 
mutual adaptation. In short, the content inherent in cultural 
pluralism can be labeled the process of fuller adaptation. Fuller 
adaptation can be defined also as that mutual adaptation of 
ethnic groups which is to be understood as the voluntary adoption 
of what is both common and new, and the preservation of what is 
particular (ethnic). 
The social development that has taken place up to now and the 
social crisis of today testify to the existence of an 
undeveloped, incomplete adaptation. One can observe instances of 
a one-sided adaptation to the dominant culture or to majority 
cultures. We encounter cases of diglossia (which we have already 
explained). Ethnic minorities succeed in transmitting to the 
broader social environment only fragments of their original 
culture-bound features, while at the same time they themselves 
also find it difficult to maintain their original culture. The 
processes of incomplete adaptation are limited to secondary 
social relations; their nature is essentially involuntary because 
of the imposition of the elements of the dominant culture. It is 
not at all difficult to ascertain that the processes of 
incomplete adaptation do not ensure the chance of the existence 
of cultural pluralism. 
Processes of Acculturation 
In surveying the processes bearing on cultural pluralism, on must 
not overlook the processes of acculturation. During such 
processes elements of the new culture are adopted, which, 
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Razprave in gradivo,Ljubljana, March 1986, No.18 
however, entails no deeper changes. Processes of acculturation 
can be conveniently related to those of adaptation that, as we 
have seen, also signify the adoption of the elements of the new 
culture. Acculturative processes are normally equated with the 
processes of secondary socialization. 
The processes of acculturation relate to the categories by which 
cultural pluralism starts with the successive second-language 
learning, i.e. subsequently to the mother-tongue acquisition. 
This occurs in migration situations as well as in certain ethnic- 
minority situations. 
A more developed type of acculturation is the process of 
voluntary acculturation; it occurs under democratic social 
conditions and is bidirectional (transculturation), which means 
that the minority's culture or the culture of the immigrant 
ethnic communities radiates its features in the direction of the 
cultural environment of the majority (numerically superior) 
ethnic culture or of the environment of the culture of the 
immigrant society concerned. In short, a more developed type of 
acculturation relates to the processes of adaptation, the latter 
being comprehended as phenomena of cultural pluralism. 
Contemporary social conditions that display the features typical 
of crisis situations bring into being particularly the less 
developed, one-sided acculturation. This kind of acculturation is 
involuntary and one-sided on account of the domination of the 
culture of the privileged ethnic group, which also implies that 
the processes of transculturation hardly ever appear. 
Processes of acculturation remain for the most part embryonic, 
since no intensified linkage of them and of processes of 
adaptation - i.e. of cultural pluralism - can be perceived. 
Embryonic acculturation means insufficient acculturating, which 
together with the insufficient enculturation in the original 
culture leads to semicultural situations to to semiliteracy in 
the mother tongue and in the foreign (second) language. 
Parallel processes of enculturation in the original and in the 
foreign (the other/the second) cultures, supported by 
acculturation, shift the overall development to assimilation and 
thus preclude the emergence of the phenomena of cultural 
Pluralism. 
Processes of Integrative Oppositions and Conflicts 
When different cultures meet in the processes of 
multiculturalism, the encounter only rarely, if ever, takes place 
without oppositions and conflicts. These processes are present in 
both parallel and successive socialization in the other culture. 
They are evident as concomitants of undeveloped, one-sided 
processes of adaptation and acculturation, when we witness the 
transformation of adaptation into accommodation and of 
acculturation into assimilation at higher levels. At the same 
time, the contemporary inter-ethnic and hence also intercultural 
relations are built on elements of ethnic stratification, 
discrimination, segregation, ethnic aloofness, xenophobia, cases 
of negative nationalism, unitarianism, etc., which testifies to 
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Razprave in gradivo,Ljubljana, March 1986, No.18 
the existence of manifold disjunctive relations among ethnic 
groups. Even the more developed relations of cultural pluralism 
do not provide the necessary grounds for us to be able to expect 
realistically the withering away - even in such relations - of 
inter-ethnic and intercultural oppositions and conflicts, because 
in that case our conception of inter-ethnic relations would be 
one-sided, viewing them merely as processes of mutual adaptation 
whereby the foreign is acquired and the original preserved. Such 
conceptions could be criticized for their one-sided outlook, for 
their harmonization of internal - particularly inter-ethnic - 
structures. They might also be castigated for playing up the 
unity and ignoring the dialectics, the principle of development. 
That is why any theoretical substantiation of the mutual 
encounter and mutual participation of ethnic groups, as well as 
furtherance of multiculturalism, must take due account of the 
processes of integrative conflicts and oppositions. These 
conflicts and oppositions in essence stand for the struggle 
between cultures, values, norms, etc. of a dissimilar ethnic 
background, whereby inter-ethnic intensities are let loose and 
the possibilities are created of transforming latent conflicts 
into full-blown conflicts, whereby the ideas engage the opposing 
ideas in battle, which brings about the alteration and 
development of the inter-ethnic relations as well as the growth 
of multiculturalism. The immediate action taken in solving each 
problem of multiculturalism, which is ensured by integrative 
conflicts, is - naturally enough- kept within its limits which 
from the viewpoint of the broader global society reside in the 
requirement that such conflicts must not destroy the basic values 
of the global society and that they must at the same time 
solidify the internal cohesion of ethnic groups. Integrative 
conflicts can be attained when they occur under the conditions of 
horizontal, non-hierarchical differences between the ethnic 
groups and their cultures. On the contrary, integrative conflicts 
and multiculturalism cannot develop in the context of social 
inequality and ethnic stratification. 
Present-day social conditions are such that we can conclude that 
the integrative conflicts existing in inter-ethnic relations have 
yet to attain to a satisfactory level of development. More 
developed are destructive conflicts and such oppositions as are 
supported by the processes of ethnic stratification, 
discrimination, segregation of prejudices and stereotypes, 
xenophobia of negative nationalisms, domination of cultures on 
the basis of ethnocentrism, and the like. The contemporary social 
crisis in particular expands and deepens diverse disjunctive 
processes emerging in the relations among ethnic groups, its 
ultimate offshoot being the protective discriminatory measures 
applied by the dominant ethnic majority to the detriment of the 
underprivileged ethnic minority. We witness a variety of 
phenomena related to social disorganization (anomie, alienation) 
and to pathology as well as the conditions of being imperiled and 
of social insecurity that are mirrored in the inter-ethnic 
relations. In this way ethnic distances intensify too. Such an 
overall state of affairs represents a formidable hindrance to the 
growth of multiculturalism. One must not ignore the fact that 
mere regression of the processes of adaptation and acculturation, 
resulting in the involuntary one-sided lower levels of adaptation 
and acculturation, together with the presence of assimilation, 
already stimulates in itself processes of conflicts and 
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oppositions. The intensities created between any two cultures are 
transformed into conflicts to an insufficient extent only; 
likewise, latent conflicts are too slow in becoming full-blown 
conflicts. Too few inter-ethnic and intercultural conflicts are 
actually resolved, as many are merely swept under the carpet, 
while marginal conflicts are brought to the foreground or 
artificial conflicts are fabricated in order that the basic 
conflicts might be kept aside. The expedients and procedures for 
easing and effectively solving inter-ethnic/intercultural 
conflicts have not reached an adequate level of development. The 
criteria for differentiating between disintegrative and 
integrative conflicts are not clear enough. The linkage of inter- 
ethnic/intercultural conflicts and the basic antagonistic social 
conflicts represents and inadequately developed type of research. 
Disintegrative and inter-ethnic/intercultural conflicts are not 
infrequently abused by being employed as a means of attacking the 
basic values of the global society and destroying its cohesion. 
Concluding Remarks on the Social Processes and on 
Multiculturalism 
In closing this discussion about the social processes that 
concern the development of multiculturalism, we can say that the 
processes listed above are strongly interrelated, while their 
development depends on the degree of restricting ethnic 
stratification and other key phenomena of social inequality. It 
is only by way of greater social equality that we can ensure more 
developed processes of adaptation, processes of acculturation 
linked with the adaptation, and processes of integrative 
conflicts and oppositions. The existence of horizontal social and 
ethnic differences is related to the development of cultural 
pluralism. Processes of cultural pluralism are identical with the 
more developed processes of adaptation that are in turn 
associated with processes of acculturation, whenever the elements 
of the new culture are being adopted in the context of horizontal 
ethnic differences. Under the conditions of a greater extent of 
social equality, processes of integrative conflicts and 
oppositions can evolve along with the processes of an advanced- 
level adaptation and of the acculturation interconnected with the 
adaptation; in this case, we witness the confrontation between 
the relatively autonomous elements of culture, the values used in 
resolving the existing opposition, just as we also witness actual 
social progress. Thanks to these factors, the presence of the 
phenomena of cultural pluralism is assured. Furthermore, what we 
witness in this case is also the interlinkage of the processes of 
the more developed adaptation as well as of acculturation and the 
processes of integrative conflicts. The acceptance of the common 
and of the novel and the preservation and furtherance of the 
particular resulting from the interaction between different 
cultures, hardly ever take place without the emergence of 
oppositions and conflicts. Mutual adaptation and cooperation is a 
process associated with a number of oppositions and conflicts 
that can be resolved by taking on integrative effects through our 
efforts. A more developed type of adaptation is generated if the 
tensions are lessened and their thrust moderated, and if latent 
conflicts turn into manifest conflicts. Those basic values of the 
global society which persist and develop through confrontation 
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Razprave in gradivo,Ljubljana, March 1986, No.18 
and struggle are more firm and hence ensure the cohesion within 
the global society. 
The concluding thought may be formulated as follows: under the 
conditions of social inequality demonstrated by ethnic 
stratification, undeveloped processes of adaptation, processes of 
acculturation dissociated from the adaptation, discrepancies 
between enculturation and acculturation, numerous disjunctive 
processes (disintegrative conflicts, discrimination, regressive 
nationalism, coercive assimilation, and the like), we cannot 
realistically hope for the factual development of 
multiculturalism. Factual multiculturalism can flourish under the 
conditions of a greater social equality, when the ethnic 
stratification transcends its own limits and begins to represent 
social differences on the horizontal level, when processes of a 
fuller adaptation emerge, when processes of acculturation tie in 
with the more developed processes of adaptation, when processes 
of transculturation are brought in, when processes of 
enculturation are coordinated with processes of acculturation, or 
when two enculturative processes in two cultures run parallel 
with each other and when processes of integrative conflicts and 
oppositions are in full swing. 
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