Multiculturalism

Abstract

Multiculturalism refers to (a) the state of a society or the world in which there exists numerous distinct ethnic and cultural groups seen to be politically relevant; and (b) a program or policy promoting such a society. Political philosophers aspire to deal with the challenges posed by multiculturalism fairly—but there is deep disagreement about what constitutes fair treatment. Multiculturalism might entail the granting of rights (individual and/or collective) on the grounds of the value cultures have for individuals, or even society as a whole. A multicultural state then, might be one in which different forms of recognition are granted to cultural groups in order to secure the valuable goods cultural membership provides equally and avoid unfairly privileging dominant groups. On the other hand, it can be argued that precisely because of deep social and cultural diversity, the state should remain neutral between groups and ensure that basic liberal rights are fairly and consistently applied across cultural differences. Granting recognition to groups risks undermining the security and welfare of individuals by ‘politicizing’ forms of cultural identification best kept out of public decision-making about the distribution of goods and resources. These views reflect not only conflicting intuitions about the relation between culture and individual welfare, but also deep disagreements about the nature of equality and freedom.