Plural society vs Pluralistic society

Pluralistic society doesn't necessarily mean the same thing. A pluralistic society usually refers to a society which intentionally accommodates a wide variety of opinions. In the United States, it has been used for many, many years to mean a society in which a great variety of religions were practiced. That was a delusion to a certain extent, because these were largely different varieties of Protestant Christianity.

I suspect this term plural society has been coined precisely because of the long common usage of pluralistic society to mean a society with many different religious sects.

Pluralistic comes first before plural?


So does that mean "pluralistic society" has been used for quite awhile before "plural society", a shorter phrase, is coined to denote to a society with pluralistic characteristics ...?

I'd have to say yes, simply because i'd never heard of "plural society" until you posted this thread.

However, you obviously failed completely to understand the distinction i was making. The usage of "pluralistic," at least in the United States, refers specifically to a diversity of religious sects. The "plural society" you refer to, as defined in your opening post, is about things entirely different.

I can't help you if you don't read and understand what is told to you.

Frederick Barth wrote in 1958 about "plural societie and it has a specific definition (concerning ethnicity) in his works.