"Biculturalism in sociology describes the co-existence, to varying degrees, of two originally distinct cultures."
The ability to adapt to and navigate between two different cultures, often leading to a hybrid identity.
Culture: The customs, beliefs, values, and behaviors that make up a particular group or society.
Identity: The characteristics, beliefs, and values that make up an individual's sense of self.
Acculturation: The process of adapting to a new culture.
Assimilation: The process of fully adopting the cultural practices and values of a new culture.
Biculturalism: The ability to effectively navigate and integrate two cultures.
Multiculturalism: The coexistence of multiple cultures within a society.
Stereotypes: Preconceived notions or beliefs about a particular culture or group of people.
Prejudice: Negative attitudes or beliefs toward a particular culture or group of people.
Discrimination: Unfair treatment of individuals based on their culture or group identity.
Cultural competence: The ability to effectively navigate and communicate across cultures.
Cultural relativism: The idea that cultural practices and beliefs should be evaluated within the context of the culture they occur in, rather than based on external standards.
Intersectionality: The idea that multiple aspects of one's identity, such as race, gender, and culture, interact and influence one another.
Cultural shock: The emotional and psychological distress that can result from being in an unfamiliar culture.
Intercultural communication: The ability to effectively communicate across cultures.
Integrative Bicultural Identity: This type of bicultural identity is characterized by the blending of cultural beliefs, values, and behaviors of both the individual's native and host cultures. Individuals with this identity are able to integrate these two cultures seamlessly.
Alternating Bicultural Identity: This type of bicultural identity is characterized by the alternation between the individual's native and host cultures. Individuals with this identity switch between cultural norms, behaviors, and beliefs as per the situation.
Marginal Bicultural Identity: This type of bicultural identity is characterized by feeling disconnected from both the native and host cultures. Individuals with this identity often struggle to find a sense of belonging to either culture.
Assimilated Bicultural Identity: This type of bicultural identity is characterized by the complete adoption of the host culture, to the point of abandoning or forgetting the native culture.
Opposing Bicultural Identity: This type of bicultural identity is characterized by the rejection of one culture in favor of the other. Individuals with this identity tend to identify with one culture at the expense of the other.
Multicultural Identity: This type of bicultural identity is characterized by the identification with multiple cultures. Individuals with this identity are not limited to only two cultures but instead identify with multiple cultures.
"Official policy recognizing, fostering, or encouraging biculturalism typically emerges in countries that have emerged from a history of national or ethnic conflict in which neither side has gained complete victory."
"Resulting conflicts may take place either between the colonisers and indigenous peoples (as in Fiji) and/or between rival groups of colonisers (as in, for example, South Africa)."
"A deliberate policy of biculturalism influences the structures and decisions of governments to ensure that they allocate political and economic power and influence equitably between people and/or groups identified with each side of the cultural divide."
"Examples include the conflicts between Anglophone and Francophone Canadians, between Anglophone White South Africans and Boers, and between the indigenous Māori people and European settlers in New Zealand."
"The term biculturalism was originally adopted in Canada, most notably by the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism (1963–1969), which recommended that Canada become officially bilingual."
"Ukrainian Canadians activists such as Jaroslav Rudnyckyj, Paul Yuzyk and other 'third force' successfully pressured the Canadian government to adopt multiculturalism as official policy in 1971."
"In the context of relations between the cultures of deafness and non-deafness, people find the word 'biculturalism' less controversial because the distinction between spoken language and sign language commonly seems like a genuine binary distinction."
"Bicultural distinctions have traditionally existed between the US and Mexico, and between the White and the African-American population of the US."
"Regions which formally recognize biculturalism include Belgium, Vanuatu, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Switzerland, Paraguay, New Zealand, and Hong Kong."
"New Zealand where the Treaty of Waitangi forms the basis of a relationship between the Crown and Māori iwi (tribes) through which te reo Māori is recognized as an official language, and Māori have protected representation in Parliament through the Māori electorates."
"Biculturalism can also refer to individuals (see bicultural identity)."
"Because the term biculturalism suggests, more or less explicitly, that only two cultures merit formal recognition, advocates of multiculturalism (for which biculturalism formed a precedent) may regard bicultural outlooks as inadequately progressive by comparison."
"Belgium, divided basically between speakers of French and of Dutch."
"Vanuatu, formerly a condominium with both French and British politico-administrative traditions."
"The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, retrospectively termed 'The Commonwealth of Both Peoples'."
"Paraguay, with a population 90% of which speaks Guaraní and 99% of which speaks Spanish."
"Switzerland, overwhelmingly German and French in language (though with recognition of Italian and Romansch)."
"Hong Kong, where both Chinese and English are official languages."
"New Zealand, where the Treaty of Waitangi forms the basis of a relationship between the Crown and Māori iwi (tribes) through which te reo Māori is recognized as an official language, and Māori have protected representation in Parliament through the Māori electorates."