Corporate multiculturalism, diversity management, and positive interculturalism in Irish schools and society

Abstract

This article offers an empirical critique of recent social and educational policy responses to cultural diversity in an Irish context, with a particular focus on anti-racism, integration and intercultural education policies developed during the so-called ‘Celtic Tiger’ era. Combining ethnographic and discourse analytic techniques, I highlight the centrality of the Celtic Tiger economy and corporate interests in influencing the particular version of interculturalism promulgated by the Irish state. I argue that broader macro processes and discourses operating at the level of Irish state policy can impact the local school level, resulting in negative consequences for ethnic minority students, particularly those who are least endowed with the cultural and linguistic capital valued by the school and wider society.

Keywords:

• anti-racism policy
• corporate multiculturalism
• intercultural education
• language support
• linguistic minorities
• educational policy
• symbolic violence

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the editors of this issue and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on a previous version of this article.

Notes

1. Ethical issues were addressed through, and this study was approved by, the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of Teachers College, Columbia University.

2. All names used to refer to people and places in this article are pseudonyms. The source of this quotation is not provided to protect the identity of the school. The term ‘international students' was typically applied to ethnically and/or linguistic minority students at BHC, irrespective of how long they had lived in Ireland or whether they had Irish citizenship.

3. One could equally argue that so-called ‘international students' at third level, particularly those from non-EU countries are economically valuable to third level colleges, because of the significantly higher fees they are required to pay. See, for example, University College Dublin's (UCD) Strategic Plan-2014, Forming Global Minds.

4. Due to space limitations, I analyse only the reputation and business cases here.

5. The system of direct provision was introduced in April 2000 and consisted of providing limited support to asylum seekers in the form of basic accommodation, meals and cash allowances of IR£15 weekly for adults and IR£7.50 weekly for children (Fanning 2002, 103). Asylum seekers were also dispersed outside Dublin to centres of direct provision, often local hostels and hotels commandeered for the purpose (Crowley, Gilmartin, and Kitchin 2006).

6. While families were typically required to purchase their own textbooks, at the time of fieldwork, the DES offered a ‘School Books Grant Scheme’ which allocated funds to primary and post-primary schools to provide schoolbooks for children whose parents/guardians were unable to do so. The ‘scam’ in question was that Yvette/her parents were allegedly selling on the new books and obtaining second-hand ones in their place.