Pluralism

Definition of Pluralism

The Canada social science dictionary [1] provides the following meaning of Pluralism: Has three principal meanings in the social sciences. First, it is a model of politics where power is assumed to be widely dispersed to different individuals and interest groups within a society thus ensuring that political processes will be relatively open and democratic and will reflect a spectrum of social interests rather than the domination of particular groups. Second, it describes a society where individual and group differences are present and are celebrated as enriching the social fabric. Canada’s policy of multiculturalism reflects pluralist values. Third, it is a view of the causation of social phenomena, especially of social change, that examines the interaction of a variety of factors rather than relying on a single explanatory cause. For example, Max Weber in stressing the importance of cultural as well as material forces in creating change within a society offers a more pluralistic framework for explanation than the more exclusively materialist approach of Marx. See: PROTESTANT ETHIC, MARXISM, HISTORICAL MATERIALISM in this legal dictionary and in the world encyclopedia of law.

Pluralism: Resources

Notes and References

• Drislane, R., & Parkinson, G. (2016). (Concept of) Pluralism. Online dictionary of the social sciences. Open University of Canada

Grammar

This term is a noun.

Etimology of Pluralism

(You may find pluralism at the world legal encyclopedia and the etimology of more terms).

1818, as a term in church administration, from plural + -ism. Attested from 1882 as a term in philosophy for a theory which recognizes more than one ultimate principle. In political science, attested from 1919 (in Harold J. Laski) in sense “theory which opposes monolithic state power.” General sense of “toleration of diversity within a society or state” is from 1933. Related: Pluralist (1620s, in the church sense); pluralistic.