Republicanism, diversity and public space in contemporary political theory: the normative basis of intercultural citizenship

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article seeks to contribute to the debate on contemporary political theory, a baseline for how to live together within diversity settings, by incorporating interculturalism into the normative theorizing of citizenship. Interculturalism’s nuclear philosophy lies in privileging people-to-people relations, and hence for a micro-identity politics. I will focus interculturalism as a strategy for citizenship-making and place-making policy with a pro-active defining feature, which transforms diversity into a public good. Following the identity citizenship politics, I will defend that conceptually it is better grounded within the republican normative tradition. After reviewing the intersection of interculturalism and citizenship, I will dig into republicanism, and especially its involvement in turning public spaces into public diversity-contact settings. My final intention is to exentuate the potential these public spaces have to become hubs for the promotion of intercultural citizenship. At the end this will help me to argue for a republican normativity of intercultural citizenship.