Cultural Pluralism and Dilemmas of Justice. By Monique Deveaux. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2000. 205p. $35.00. Becoming Free: Autonomy and Diversity in the Liberal Polity. By Emily R. Gill. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2001. 292p. $45.00 cloth, $19.95 paper.

Abstract

What does liberalism imply about our duties to minority cultures, and what do the claims of such cultures imply about the nature of liberalism? These may seem like different ways of asking roughly the same question and, in a sense, so they are. Both formulations invite us to consider the relationship between liberalism and diversity, and both do so in the specific context of group, as distinct from individual, identity. However, and as these two books demonstrate, it makes a difference which question we take as our starting point. Emily Gill begins with a question about the fundamental commitments of liberalisn, and having answered that question, she then goes on to investigate the implications for cultural membership. By contrast, Monique Deveaux begins by asking what justice requires for cultural minorities, and having answered that question, she then goes on to investigate the implications for our understanding of liberal democratic theory and practice.