Policy and philosophy promoting a vision of knowledge and experience that does not privilege any single group; usually directed against a Eurocentrism that defines history and value by reference to a Northern European experience in America. Multiculturalism has been especially important in the reform of universities and other educational institutions since the 1980s to embrace African American, Asian American, Latino American and other European ethnic authors, celebrations and perspectives; “culture” here is often used here indiscriminately to encompass race, class and even gender.

Outside the academy it may be linked with political coalition-building like Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow Coalition. Conservatives have attacked multiculturalism in the name of enduring values, assimilation and the threat of fragmented knowledge; their critiques have often been diluted by the impact of civil rights and new immigration on American society and culture itself.