Re-examining the Philosophical Underpinnings of the Melting Pot vs. Multiculturalism in the Current Immigration Debate in the United States

Daniel Woldeab, Robert Yawson () and Irina Woldeab

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: Immigration to the United States is certainly not a new phenomenon, and it is therefore natural for immigration, culture and identity to be given due attention by the public and policy makers. However, current discussion of immigration, legal and illegal, and the philosophical underpinnings is ‘lost in translation’, not necessarily on ideological lines, but on political orientation. In this paper we reexamine the philosophical underpinnings of the melting pot versus multiculturalism as antecedents and precedents of current immigration debate and how the core issues are lost in translation. We take a brief look at immigrants and the economy to situate the current immigration debate. We then discuss the two philosophical approaches to immigration and how the understanding of the philosophical foundations can help streamline the current immigration debate.

Keywords: Immigration; multiculturalism; melting pot; ethnic identity; acculturation; assimilation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F2 F22 J1 J10 J11 J6 J60 J61 K3 K37 O1 O15 R2 R23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021-03-27, Revised 2021-06-14
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-int
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Related works:
Working Paper: Re-examining the Philosophical Underpinnings of the Melting Pot vs. Multiculturalism in the Current Immigration Debate in the United States (2021)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pra:mprapa:108302

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