What is the meaning of Cultural Plurality?

Cultural pluralism in a society refers to a pattern or set-up wherein people of different faiths, religions, languages etc. live together. R. K. Chaudhary in his article ‘Society and Culture: Plurality of Culture in India’ writes that “plural culture means the co-existence of several sub- cultures within a given society on equal terms. In such a pluralistic culture, the validity of various sub-cultures is recognized”.

According to K.S. Singh, “plural culture is like a honeycomb in which communities are engaged in vibrant interaction, sharing space, ethos, and cultural traits”. (K.S. Singh, People of India: An Introduction). Bhikhu Parekh (Bhikhu Parekh: Rethinking Multiculturalism), however, simplifies it even further when he says that plurality is formed when different cultures co-exist in any given set- up without getting assimilated and retaining their distinct identity. These different cultures can be called as sub-cultures of a society. Thus, these sub-cultures which people follow give rise to the notion of cultural diversity.

Bhikhu Parekh also distinguishes between cultural plurality and multiculturalism. According to him, plural cultures are those in which distinct cultures co-exist but some become dominant. Thus, in such societies there does exist plurality but not equality. In other words, in such a cultural set-up there is not equal participation of all cultures. On the other hand, in multicultural societies, ideally, all cultures would be treated equal. He further adds that it needs to be kept in mind that the differences marked out above can hold only in ideal conditions. For instance, India exhibits both features. Imtiaz Ahmad also differentiates between cultural pluralism and multiculturalism. In the context of India, he argues for the operation of two cultural processes, one, ‘an ethnic nation’, and the second, ‘nation state’. (Cultural Pluralism: The Indian Scenario, edited by S A Azeez Saheb, B. Francis Kulkarni and K K Mishra). Ethnic plurality has also imparted variety to Indian culture. India possesses complex ethnic plurality which is visible with ethnic groups varying in size, culture and consciousness. The ethnic plurality has led some scholars to understand India more as a ‘state nation’ than as a ‘nation state’.