Multiculturalism and Interculturalism: Views from the Local

In the UK, as elsewhere in Europe, integration and social cohesion in relation to ethnic and cultural diversity are never far from the newspaper headlines or policy concerns. While these issues have gained attention from a variety of scholarly positions, one key debate has been between two pro-diversity paradigms of governance: multiculturalism (MC) and interculturalism (IC). Debates between the two camps have centred around the contention that IC can, should, or even has replaced MC as the dominant paradigm. Nevertheless, some research has begun to suggest that the two approaches live side by side in policy and can be complementary rather than antagonistic. This chapter addresses the matter of complementarity between MC and IC by focusing on the question of levels, in particular the relationship between the national and the local. To do so, it analyses two local policy documents to assess how they embody aspects of IC and MC, how they relate to one another, and with what emphases and rationales. This serves as the basis for assessing the question of complementarity.