Melting Pot, Multiculturalism, and Interculturalism

This book examines multiculturalism, interculturalism, and the melting pot metaphor and explores how they emerged, evolved, and were implemented throughout American history. Alfredo Montalvo-Barbot analyzes how these ideologies have been legitimized, institutionalized, and challenged by activists, politicians, and intellectuals and studies how modern interculturalism offers a new model for bridging the cultural divide and for overcoming the limitations of previous state-sponsored multicultural policies and programs.

As Montalvo-Barbot concisely chronicles, the history of American national identity has always entailed contestation between inclusionary and exclusionary forces and intense debates about the terms of incorporation. His linking of theorizing about assimilation, pluralism, multiculturalism, and interculturalism to public policy provides readers with a cogent understanding of our past, which is valuable in making sense of the current reactionary backlash to diversity.

Alfredo Montalvo-Barbot is associate professor of sociology and department chair at Emporia State University in Kansas.