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Akbar's multiculturalism: lessons for diversity management in the 21st century
Author(s) -
Syed Jawad
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
canadian journal of administrative sciences / revue canadienne des sciences de l'administration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.347
H-Index - 48
eISSN - 1936-4490
pISSN - 0825-0383
DOI - 10.1002/cjas.185
Subject(s) - multiculturalism , diversity (politics) , hegemony , humanities , political science , democracy , sociology , ethnology , art , law , politics
Abstract This paper challenges the hegemony of US‐centric perspectives in the diversity management literature by explaining how non‐Western histories and cultures may provide alternative contexts for understanding and managing diversity. In pursuit of this, the paper describes how Muslim ruler Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar conceptualized multiculturalism in 16th century India, and how his principles of sulh‐i‐kul, rah‐i‐aql, and rawa‐i‐rozi may be adopted to develop a sociopolitical environment conducive to managing cultural diversity in organizations, an environment currently lacking even in the majority of democratic countries in the world today. Copyright © 2010 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.