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Abstract
The notion of tolerance is widely embraced across many settings and is generally considered critical for the peaceful functioning of culturally diverse societies. However, the concepts of tolerance and intolerance have various meanings and can be used in different ways and for different purposes. The various understandings raise different empirical questions and might have different implications for the subject positions of those who are tolerant and those who are tolerated. In this study, we focus on cultural understandings of tolerance and intolerance and how these terms are used in discourses. We first describe how in an open-ended question in a national survey lay people use a classical and a more modern understanding of tolerance to describe situations of tolerance and intolerance. Second, we analyze how those who tolerate and those who are tolerated can flexibly use these different understandings of (in)tolerance for discursively making particular “us–them” distinctions. It is concluded that the notions of tolerance and intolerance have different cultural meanings which both can be used for progressive or oppressive ends.
Highlights
The notion of tolerance is widely embraced across many settings and is generally considered critical for the peaceful functioning of culturally diverse societies
Our ability to create, evaluate, and implement appropriate policies is limited by tolerance and intolerance having various meanings that can be used in different ways and for different purposes
One academic response to this conceptual situation of “disarray” (Ferrar, 1976) is to offer a systematic conceptual analysis ((Cohen, 2004); Forst, 2013) or to develop a theoretical framework about the psychological processes underlying different understandings of tolerance and intolerance (Verkuyten & Yogeeswaran, 2017). Another response is to focus on cultural understandings of tolerance and intolerance and how these terms are used in everyday life and discourses
Summary
The notion of tolerance is widely embraced across many settings and is generally considered critical for the peaceful functioning of culturally diverse societies. Sometimes the concept of tolerance refers to endurance and putting up with things one dislikes and disapproves of, and sometimes to open-mindedness and the general willingness to accept a broad range of differences, and even for embracing and celebrating the practices and behaviors of dissenting others (Galeotti, 2015) These different understandings raise different empirical and practical questions. One academic response to this conceptual situation of “disarray” (Ferrar, 1976) is to offer a systematic conceptual analysis ((Cohen, 2004); Forst, 2013) or to develop a theoretical framework about the psychological processes underlying different understandings of tolerance and intolerance (Verkuyten & Yogeeswaran, 2017) Another response is to focus on cultural understandings of tolerance and intolerance and how these terms are used in everyday life and discourses. To situate the research and the findings in the literature, we begin with a short overview of the main ways in which tolerance and intolerance are conceptualized in the academic literature
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