Playing (A)-Part: Thinking Poly-Cultural Societies after Multiculturalism

Abstract

This paper considers citizenship in a culturally diverse society throughethnography in the Israel Andalusian orchestra The orchestra was established in 1994 in the immigrant city of Ashdod by the second generation of North African Jewish immigrants The establishment of the Andalusian Orchestra looks at first sight like one more case of ethnic revival that one should explore as multicultural citizenship but research shows that it does not fit into the multicultural mold Thus research that began as an exploration of multicultural citizenship turned into ethnography of the politics of classification in Israel This paper offers an alternative way of thinking analyzing citizenship in a polycultural society and focusing especially on the dialog between the state and different ethnic groups This approach involves investigation not only into the second generation of immigrants in a modern city but also into the concept of multiculturalism itself