Multiculturalism

Multiculturalism is a political idea about the proper way to respond to cultural diversity. Multiculturalists argue for more inclusive conceptions of citizenship, justice, and democracy, which extend special recognition and rights to cultural minority groups. The origins of multicultural theory can be traced in part to the dissatisfaction with liberalism's inattention to the value of community and the legacy of historic injustice against racial and ethnic minority groups, and a search for more inclusive ways to accommodate the racial and ethnic diversity generated by immigration to North America and Western Europe in the latter half of [Page 908]the twentieth century. Multiculturalists contend that the proper response to cultural diversity is to supplement the common set of civil, political, and social rights with a set of group-differentiated rights and accommodations for marginalized groups. Although multiculturalism has been used as an umbrella term to characterize the politics of a wide range of historically disadvantaged groups, including African Americans, women, gays and lesbians, and the disabled, most self-identified theorists of multiculturalism tend to focus their arguments on immigrants who are ethnic and religious minorities (e.g., Latinos in the United States, Muslims in Western Europe), national minorities (e.g., Catalans, Basque, Welsh, Québécois), and indigenous peoples (e.g., M—ori in New Zealand, Native peoples in North America).

Multiculturalism is closely associated with “identity politics,” “the politics of difference,” and “the politics of recognition”; they all share a commitment to revaluing disrespected identities and changing dominant patterns of representation and communication that marginalize certain groups. But multiculturalism is also a matter of economic interests and political power; it demands remedies to the material and political disadvantages that people suffer as a result of their minority status. Examples of multicultural accommodations include exemptions from generally applicable law (e.g., religious exemptions), state subsidies for the pursuit of group practices (e.g., public funding for minority-language schools), special political representation rights (e.g., ethnic quotas for party lists or legislative seats), or limited self-government rights (e.g., qualified recognition of tribal sovereignty). This entry provides an overview of the philosophical foundations of multiculturalism and considers its main weaknesses.