Justice & Pluralism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Justice & Pluralism - Essay Example (Baker, 1997 & Kymlicka, 1995) J.S. Furnivall was the first known person to coin the term pluralistic society and distinguish as a separate form of society. A Banker by profession, he had travelled a lot particularly to the colonial Far East where he discovered the wide range of culture and ethnic diversity that existed within that society. He described his experience and observation in the following words â€Å"in the strictest sense, a medley for they mix but do not combine†. As Furnivall tried to convey his idea and observation of a society that is a cultural melting pot, similarly this prose incorporates the same ideology and tries to observe pluralism in the light of justice and the importance of establishing a state that is beyond religion or religious beliefs. (Baker, 1997 & Young, 1979) Justice and pluralism have a high correlation and for a just system to be established in a society, social pluralism must prevail. The depth of their relationship will be further elabor ated. However, the following parts of the prose will discuss and analyze the philosophy and science of social pluralism; its essence and importance in order to establish social order in the society. Pluralism is generally a philosophical term; however the term has now become synonymous with social and political science as well. During the last few decades, political and social scientists have carried out intense debates regarding the validity of a pluralistic analysis and evaluation of modern societies. (Conn, 1973) The argument presented against pluralistic interpretation of the society is vastly polemic and based on abstract. As researches continue to study the phenomenon extensively and produce copious amounts of data on the subject; however, the subject of pluralism remains in the shroud of ambiguities. Pluralism is in fact a multifaceted phenomenon and there has been numerous that, if not completely elucidate the subject but does provide sufficient amount of insight. M. G. Smit h, a renowned social scientist has been known for organizing the concept that made Social pluralism a central concept in the society. He defined pluralism as the division of the society into small units on the basis of race, culture, ethnicity, language and language. These units were politically meaningful and this stratification of society was responsible determining or influencing people’s behaviour in a society. (Quong, 2004, 43-67) These units later evolve into sophisticated corporate units that were responsible for the amount of wealth a society generates and the level of discord. However, on the down side the more stratified a society became the likelihood of collective violence and discord amongst the units increased. The prime focus of studies was on the correlation between collective violence and a pluralistic society and he stated: â€Å"Having spent my life trying to clarify the conception of pluralism, I now wish to test and demonstrate its relevance for the solu tion of many urgent problems in the modern world. To that end I have compiled information on the demographic, economic, social and political characteristics of all sovereign nation-states, together with such detailed records as I can gather of internal