Identity, Culture and Diversity
Identity, Culture and Diversity examines how people come to see themselves and others, and how culture and power shape that process. You need to show that identity is socially constructed, not simply natural, and apply this to Irish society.
Core rules and concepts
- Culture: shared norms, values, symbols, language and practices. Socialisation transmits culture: primary (family) and secondary (school, peers, media, religion).
- Identity: a sense of self shaped by categories such as nationality, ethnicity, class, gender, religion and sexuality. Intersectionality (Crenshaw) shows these categories interact rather than simply stack.
- National identity is built through symbols, education, sport, language and commemoration; it is 'imagined' (Anderson) and historically contingent.
- Multiculturalism recognises group difference in public policy; interculturalism emphasises dialogue and interaction; assimilation expects minorities to absorb majority norms.
- Irish specifics: the Traveller community was formally recognised as an ethnic minority in 2017; the Good Friday Agreement's identity provisions; migration and direct provision; the Irish language and the Gaeltacht; the GAA and rugby as identity markers.
Worked example
A school bans a student's religious head covering, citing uniform policy. Apply concepts: Is this assimilation or reasonable accommodation? Does 'neutrality' treat majority and minority practices equally? How does intersectionality (gender, religion, ethnicity) shape the student's experience? A strong answer avoids assuming either that all tradition is oppressive or that all critique is cultural imperialism.
Traps
- Essentialising identity ('the Irish are...').
- Confusing multiculturalism with assimilation.
- Treating culture as static.
- Ignoring power: who defines 'normal'?