The one-sentence truth: Identity is not a single label; it is a layered relationship between how people understand themselves, how others categorise them and which communities recognise them.
Core vocabulary
Identity, multiculturalism, pluralism, assimilation, integration, belonging, representation, diaspora, cultural hybridity, stereotype.
Assimilation versus integration
Assimilation implies minorities becoming similar to a dominant culture. Integration implies participation in common institutions while retaining meaningful difference. The distinction matters in immigration and social-cohesion debates.
Multiculturalism versus pluralism
Multiculturalism describes the presence or recognition of multiple cultures; pluralism places stronger emphasis on coexistence within shared civic arrangements.
Representation
Representation can mean numerical presence, political voice or cultural portrayal. Clarify which one your argument uses.
Cultural hybridity
Identities can combine influences rather than occupy sealed categories. Hybridity is useful when discussing globalisation, migration, language and youth culture.
Stereotyping and essentialism
A stereotype assigns simplified traits to a group. Essentialism treats those traits as fixed and defining. GP students should avoid making the same analytical error while discussing identity.
Example sentence
“Multicultural stability depends less on eliminating difference than on ensuring that difference does not determine access to common institutions, political voice or social opportunity.”
Singapore application
Singapore offers a useful context for discussing multicultural institutions, common civic spaces, language, migration and representation. Avoid treating racial or cultural groups as internally uniform.
Continue the JC2 GP vocabulary system
Return to General Paper Vocabulary Year 2 (JC2) and Vocabulary for Junior College (JC1–JC2).
Final thought
Identity becomes politically difficult when categories that help people belong also become boundaries that limit how others see them.