""Multiculturalism" as usually practiced is pretty toothless, a sort of Western version of the "you can wear your funny hat but basically you have to be like everybody else" Soviet approach to cultural variation (cf. recent discussions here on Iran). Also, ethnicities (cultures) are already divided without capitalism even showing up."
I agree, the Soviet approach to cultural difference was very interesting, and I looked at it a bit here. http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a905694204~db=all
Theodor Shanin was interested in the difference between culture and ethnicity, but I wasn't sure that there was anything in it. What does it mean to say that they are different? Is one more real than the other? Is one more biological than the other?