Dubai - Melting Pot or Mixed Salad? From Cross-Cultural to Multicultural Research

DUBAI: MELTING POT OR

MIXED SALAD?

A discussion of acculturation in Dubai

Candy McLeod, Higher Colleges of Technology - Dubai

Early observations

“In America, individuals of all nations are melted into a new

race of men”

St John de

Crèvecoeur, 1792

“Intercultural knowledge and communication cause

assimilation and will eventually result in Americans

becoming one people”

De

Tocqueville, 1835

Berry’s (1970) model of acculturation

•Assimilation -M +D

•Separation +M - D

• Integration + M + D

•Marginalisation - M - D

How does Dubai fit in to this model?

Demographic breakdown of the UAE:

Ethnic groups (last updated 2009)

16.6% Emirati (citizenry)

23.0% other Arabs

42.3% Asians (subcontinent)

12.1% other Asians

6.0% other expatriates

Ref:

http://www.quora.com/United-Arab-Emirates-UAE/What-is-the-exact-population-breakdown-of-the-UAE-by-nationality#

The Dubai Context

• Population of just over 2 million

• Three quarters are men

• Over 200 nationalities

• Very unique demographic

• Emirati minority (estimates 5 – 7 %)

• Considerable socioeconomic imbalances

• Expatriate vs immigrant

• Citizenship and stakeholdership

Dominant vs minority culture

• Which is Emirati culture?

• Importance of context and place

• Role of

acculturation

policies…

Eg: dress

code

‘Dubai culture’

• Mall culture (subculture) -850 brands available; cinemas –

Bollywood and Hollywood

• Restaurants –multicultural cuisine

• Global Village

• International City

The role of language

Arabic, English, Urdu, Tagalog, Hindi ?

• -M+D? unilingualism in D

• +M –D? unilingualism in M

• +M + D? bilingualism

• -M –D? demilingualism

• Recent government push to strengthen Arabic language

among citizens

• Arabic seen as a way to preserve cultural identity

Impact of Emiritisation

Mixed Salad

Economic threat to

expatriates

Economic power/status for citizens

Negative Stereotyping

Effects of global branding of Dubai

• Emirates Airline; ‘Luxury’ image

• Strong emphasis on tourism and foreign investment

• Expo 2020 – 16 million visitors expected

• May be a gap between perception of ‘others’ and reality (eg: maintenance of Shari’a law; religiously conservative indigenous population)

can lead to cultural clashes

Research opportunities

Initial considerations:

• Relatively little research undertaken so far

• Need to take a multidisciplinary approach

• Qualitative research required to investigate the emic

perspectives of both majority and minority groups

Barriers to acculturation of Emirati culture

in Dubai:

• Exclusive nature of traditional society (eg: gender segregation)

• Tribalism and ethnic differences among Emirati society (mixed marriages; especially among women)

• Universal/situational relationships

• High power distance

• Language barriers – Khaleeji Arabic

• Status of expatriate vs citizen

Research questions

• What is the impact of acculturation on Emirati society? To

what extent can changes in the local culture be attributed

to the move from traditionalism to modernisation rather

than to acculturation?

Research questions (cont.)

• How do expatriates view their roles in the UAE? To what extent are their attitudes and values affected by Emirati cultural norms? Behaviour?

• What effect does cultural similarity and shared language play in the acculturation process? How does the process differ for Arab vs non-Arab expatriates?

• Multiculturalism within Emirati culture?

Assumptions

Cultural similarity facilitates acculturation (Bartlett, 1970)

Acculturation is a normal universal human process and

occurs regardless of minority or majority status (Rudmin,

2003)

Questions and discussion

So which is Dubai?

Melting pot?

Mixed salad?

Both…?

References

Bartlett, F. C. (1970). Psychology and primitive culture. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. (Original work published 1923)

Berry, J. W. (1970). Marginality, stress, and ethnic identification in an acculturated Aboriginal community. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 1, 17–22.

Hellyer, P. (2013), There are places for all in the UAE’s multicultural society, The National 20/8/13

Rudmin, F.W. (2003), Critical History of the Acculturation Psychology of Assimilation, Separation, Integration and Marginalisation. Review of General Psychology, Vol. 7, No. 3 - 37