“Cultural” and “Geo-Cultural” Identity: A Critical Analysis of Kymlicka’s Multiculturalism in the Context of Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh

Abstract

In Bangladesh, a large number of minorities or indigenous people live in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) who prefer to introduce themselves as “Pahari” to create a distinguished identity from mainstream. Even in most cases, the Bangali population residing in CHT acknowledge their identity in the similar way. This distinctiveness is not solely cultural what Kymlicka assumes, rather it is ‘geo-cultural’. This paper focuses on the collective role of cultural and geo-cultural identity to define the complete ‘self’ of the marginalized population by analyzing and critiquing Will Kymlicka’s thoughts on multiculturalism. A randomly selected sample of indigenous and Bangali residents of CHT participated in this ethnographic study where data was collected through observations and face to face interviews. Qualitative data analysis procedure was followed to analyze and ultimately, thematize the collected data. The findings of this research very evidently demonstrated the acceptance of cultural varieties in today’s globalized multicultural world. Besides, it justified the importance of cultural and territorial rights of the minors which would eventually construct a complete identity for them. Hence, a perspective of cultural tolerance and promoting geo-cultural rights can advocate multiculturalism strongly boosting the true identity of a marginalized cultural group.

IUBAT Review—A Multidisciplinary Academic Journal, 6(1): 1-12