MOSAIC - The training kit for Euro-Mediterranean youth work

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7 Cultural diversity and minorities
Figure 7
A single flower does not make a garden, nor does a single bird bring spring.
The Arab Human Development Report, 2003
7.1 Introduction 1
Sitting in Egypt, eating Italian food, listening to French songs with a group of friends
from Jordan, Lebanon, Spain or Sweden is becoming more and more commonplace
for some young people. The traditional nation state, a territorial unit covering people
who share a common national identity (historically, culturally or ethnically), 2 faces
new challenges – especially with people’s increasing mobility and globalisation, two
factors which have helped to blur territorial boundaries and transform nation states,
making them co-operate with each other. But still, the majority or dominant national
cultures around the world are, in one way or another, imposing their identity on
other groups at the nation state and global levels.
Multi-ethnic environments are often faced with an official mono-culturalism that
frequently comes at the expense of minority rights. According to the World directory
Themes