About book: The term multiculturalism first came into public discourse in 1965 in Canada, one of the first countries to provide policy support to the concept of a society actively tolerating the coexistence of various cultures within it. In 1971, the Canadian government enacted a policy supporting the social importance and necessity of migration of various groups into the country, consequently promoting tolerance of various cultures in Canadian society. This is the first formal recognition and promotion of the concept, including its associated beliefs, values, and ideas, by a government. Following Canada in this formal move is the government of Australia, which in the 1980s formally adopted policies supporting multiculturalism in addressing its issues on migrants. The word 'multicultural', however, has been around even before the Second World War, and many states and governments have long toyed and mulled over the value of it. Relatedly, it has long been the subject of scholarly discourse and many scholars (loosely called multiculturalism theorists) have written and debated about the merits of multiculturalism as a necessary pursuit of a government for its society. One of the popular faces on such scholarly discussion of multiculturalism was Stuart Hall (1932-2014), a Briton scholar and one of the founders of British Cultural Studies school of thought in the United Kingdom. In the 1950's, Hall and his colleagues were one of the first voices who actively popularized the word 'multicultural'.

It happened when they argued that contrary to the then-popular theory that culture is a concept of polarity (that is, either one is good or bad, high or low, and thus society must select on which one deserves tolerance and pursuit), it is actually multicultural. This means that society's culture is a product of several cultures blending into it. This argument of Hall and his colleagues was a breakthrough theory in the 1950s and received both keen interest and sharp criticism from other scholars and even policy-makers. In the succeeding periods, Hall would later gain recognition as the 'Father of Multiculturalism'.Many other scholars have also shown support and argued for the merits of the 'multiculturalist theory' started by Hall and his partners. In 2002, for example, the scholar C. James Trotman supported the value of multiculturalism as a policy endeavor, because it "uses several disciplines to highlight neglected aspects of our social history, particularly the histories of women and minorities. By closing gaps, by raising consciousness about the past, multiculturalism tries to restore a sense of wholeness in a postmodern era that fragments human life and thought.

" Tariq Modood, a professor from the University of Bristol and one of the scholars focusing on the theory of multiculturalism, voiced a similar opinion with Trotman, argued that multiculturalism "is most timely and necessary, and [.] we need more not less". Formally, the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy defines multiculturalism as "a body of thought in political philosophy about the proper way to respond to cultural and religious diversity." The term loosely encompasses the promotion and active accommodation of the rights, cultures, and traditions of various groups in society, particularly those falling into minority groups. In many nations actively promoting it, multiculturalism covers the rights of various minority groups such as gender minorities and African-Americans in the USA, Muslims in Europe--particularly those at the Western side and Indigenous populations in many countries down South.