Multicultural education in the US and UK in the 1980s and beyond: the role of interest convergence-divergence

This paper traces the beginnings of multicultural policies and programs in New York City and London during the 1980s. Using Caraballo’s analysis of intercultural and intergroup programs as a model, we apply Bell’s (1980) principle of interest convergence to examine the antecedents in both cities and detail how multicultural policies and programs were rolled back when the interests of privileged groups and working-class communities of color subsequently diverged. Archival and secondary sources were used to construct and situate historical case studies within larger societal contexts. Findings indicate that multicultural curriculum and policies in both cities arose from a convergence of demands by racialized communities for equal educational opportunities and a representative curriculum, and government efforts to placate tensions from changing demographics and racial unrest. In the end we examine current racial realities and argue that the interest-convergence-divergence cycle can be useful to inform future multicultural education policy, research, pedagogy, and curriculum.