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Multiculturalism can be approached from both an individualist and collectivist perspective. Multicultural individualists take a positive view of cultural mixing, think of cultures as open, take a pluralistic and critical approach to culture, and emphasise the uniqueness of individuals. By contrast, multicultural collectivists take a positive view of cultural separation, conceive of cultures in holistic and respectful terms, and stress the shared cultural traits of individuals. Multicultural individualism has been developed by thinkers including John Locke, Karl Popper and Martin Luther King. Multicultural collectivism has been developed by thinkers including Arthur De Gobineau, Malcolm X and Paul Yuzyk. The different policy implications of multicultural individualism and collectivism are seen in the contested policy of transracial adoption. Multicultural collectivism has been criticised for its separatist agenda and its tendency to excuse violations of human rights on cultural grounds. Arguments against multiculturalism contributed to the success of the leave campaign in the EU referendum, although paradoxically, leave campaigners have themselves adopted a form of multicultural collectivism. This is seen in the current Brexit debate, where a soft Brexit is associated with individualism, a hard Brexit with national-level collectivism. Multicultural collectivism has become controversial, in part, because it has not pursued an integrationist agenda. At the same time, undocumented migrants and asylum seekers grants in the UK are being deliberately isolated rather than integrated. The question of how issues concerning these migrants can be approached is considered with respect to education and to policy advocacy—where churches have a significant role. In both cases it is seen as advantageous to help students or the public to think of migrants as individuals, rather than as an abstract mass. This approach is in accordance with the principles of multicultural individualism and of Christianity.
