Multiculturalism - How can society deal with it?

Can we create new national stories so that all citizens, regardless of their background, can have a sense of belonging to the national community? If schools are a micro cosmos of society - should they reflect the diversity of society? How can crime and terrorism be confronted? 

Recent decades have been characterised by a growing polarisation in Europe on questions of immigration and integration and a lot of fear amongst the public about the infringement upon their way of life. In defining their stances majorities tend to rely more on their own fear rather than knowledge of what is going on in the world of minorities. The Thinkers Programme aims to initiate a reflection on the subject of muliculturalism as a mode of political accommodation of minorities formed by immigration into Belgium (and Flanders in particular) as well as of the majority population. The subject will be dealt with on two levels: (political) theory and the problems of practice.