The philosophical foundations of European cultural policy: from multiculturalism to civic integration (for example Germany)

The article focuses on the cultural and philosophical foundations of the transition of a number of European countries from multiculturalism to interculturalism, from the 2010th to the present. It is noted that cultural policy is the basis of the integration efforts of states connecting immigrants and the host community. During the 20th - beginning of the 21st centuries, the position of European states towards immigrants and their culture evolved: at the beginning of the century, segregation and assimilation was the most practiced policy, replaced by harsh multiculturalism in the 1960th. The transformation of multiculturalism begins in the 1990th and leads to a declarative abandonment of this policy in the 2010th with its replacement by “interculturalism” or “civic integration”, which was not so much a substantial change as a populist measure in response to the increase in the level of frustration of most citizens. At the moment, the actions of European governments are aimed at creating a common civic identity of the population on an non-ethnic basis as a cultural resource for social integration. The main objective of the new strategy is to provide immigrant communities with equal cultural and life opportunities, along with representatives of the titular nation, which implies the active participation of integrating immigrants in all areas of the development of the city / region (cultural, socio-economic, civil and political). Moreover, the integration process requires mutual cultural participation of both immigrants and the host community.