What is multiculturalism and what are the different theories used to justify it? Are multicultural policies a threat to liberty and equality? Can liberal democracies accommodate minority groups without sacrificing peace and stability? In this clear introduction to the subject, Michael Murphy explores these questions and critically assesses multiculturalism from the standpoint of political philosophy and political practice. The book explores the origins and contemporary usage of the concept of multiculturalism in the context of debates about citizenship, egalitarian justice and conflicts between individual and collective rights. The ideas of some of the most influential champions and critics of multiculturalism, including Will Kymlicka, Chandran Kukathas, Susan Okin and Brian Barry, are also clearly explained and evaluated. Key themes include the tension between multiculturalism and gender equality, cultural relativism and the limits of liberal toleration, and the impact of multicultural policies on social cohesion ethnic conflict. Murphy also surveys the legal practices and policies enacted to accommodate multiculturalism, drawing on examples from the Americas, Australasia, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Multiculturalism: A Critical Introduction is an ideal starting point for anyone coming to the topic for the first time as well as those already familiar with some of the key issues.

Can multiculturalists be egalitarians and should egalitarians be multiculturalists? Is the absence of cultural recognition an injustice in the same way as the absence of individual rights or basic resources? These are some of the questions considered in this wide-ranging series of essays inspired by the political philosopher Brian Barry. Multiculturalist political theorists and policy-makers argue that liberal egalitarianism fails to take seriously the role of culture and group identity in defining harms and cases of injustice. Because liberal egalitarians adopt a culturally neutral account of what principles and institutions of justice should distribute, they ignore an important way in which these norms actually reinforce injustice rather than eradicate it. A whole host of thinkers have used liberal egalitarianism's neutrality on issues of culture to criticize contemporary theories of justice. This multicultural challenge to liberal egalitarianism has recently received a forceful response from Barry in his book Culture and Equality. Drawing on an international cast from Britain, the USA, Canada and Australia, Multiculturalism Reconsidered puts Barry's challenge to the test. With contributions from Chandran Kukathas, James Tully, Bhikhu Parekh, Susan Mendus and Ian Shapiro, amongst others, and a response from Brian Barry, this book ranges widely over the issues raised by multiculturalism and egalitarianism. This book will prove an indispensable resource for all those who wish to locate themselves in debates about equality, culture, identity and group rights.

The idea that diverse cultural and ethnic groups should co-exist within a country and that assimilation should not be forced upon immigrant groups – “multiculturalism” – was orthodoxy 20 years ago. Today it’s coming under pressure. In this introduction to the political theory of multiculturalism, Andrew Shorten surveys the leading theories of multiculturalism, the critiques that have been levelled against the idea, and the debates surrounding cohesion, integration and diversity. He then goes on to demonstrate how multicultural political theory can be renewed, arguing that a single, monolithic vision of multiculturalism must be replaced by a multiculturalism made up of different strands, responding to distinctive but interrelated issues, and inspired by real-world policy debates about how political communities should respond to differences of religion, language and nationality. After tracing the influence of earlier multicultural ideas on these debates, Shorten reveals some new and surprising possibilities for mutual learning. Containing an up-to-date overview of multicultural political theory and its various offshoots, this book is essential reading for students and scholars interested in the politics of cultural, religious, linguistic and national diversity.

The horrors of the past century have done little to advance appreciation for the virtues of Western civilization. Criticism of the West has mounted and the West itself has lost sight of its uniqueness. Westerners tend to endow other societies with liberal philosophy and practices. While politically profitable, this fails to educate these societies about their own civilizations’ contributions to the idea of a common humanity, human rights, and the legitimacy of dissent and diversity. John M. Headley argues for the West’s uniqueness and universality, while critiquing multiculturalism’s failure to recognize these special characteristics. He looks to civilization rather than to the nation-state as the source of the West’s achievements, arguing that its uniqueness was evident from its beginnings. Headley also seeks to advance the ever-contentious discussion about secularization. He sees secularization as a neutralizing force regarding the religions of other civilizations, allowing them to accept Western influence, which thus becomes universal. To understand secularization and how it operates from a naturalistic perspective, one must see civilization itself as a defining element in world affairs.

A selection of the leading theorists of multiculturalism revisit aspects of Parekh's work both to underline its continuing importance and the ongoing vitality of multiculturalist theory.

Public opinion in recent years has soured on multiculturalism, due in large part to fears of radical Islam. In Multiculturalism without Culture, Anne Phillips contends that critics misrepresent culture as the explanation of everything individuals from minority and non-Western groups do. She puts forward a defense of multiculturalism that dispenses with notions of culture, instead placing individuals themselves at its core. Multiculturalism has been blamed for encouraging the oppression of women--forced marriages, female genital cutting, school girls wearing the hijab. Many critics opportunistically deploy gender equality to justify the retreat from multiculturalism, hijacking the equality agenda to perpetuate cultural stereotypes. Phillips informs her argument with the feminist insistence on recognizing women as agents, and defends her position using an unusually broad range of literature, including political theory, philosophy, feminist theory, law, and anthropology. She argues that critics and proponents alike exaggerate the unity, distinctness, and intractability of cultures, thereby encouraging a perception of men and women as dupes constrained by cultural dictates. Opponents of multiculturalism may think the argument against accommodating cultural difference is over and won, but they are wrong. Phillips believes multiculturalism still has an important role to play in achieving greater social equality. In this book, she offers a new way of addressing dilemmas of justice and equality in multiethnic, multicultural societies, intervening at this critical moment when so many Western countries are poised to abandon multiculturalism.

The Limits of Liberal Multiculturalism provides a timely analysis of some of the weaknesses, as well as the successes, of the liberal multicultural project. It also takes a step forward by developing a pluralist, individual-centred approach to allocating minority rights in practice.

Issues of integration, multiculturalism and policies of ethnic and religious minority rights have gained greatly in significance in recent years, especially in relation to Muslims. This book deals with the Muslim minority in New Zealand, with special emphasis on policy aspects relevant to the integration of Muslims in the host society. The book also discusses many other issues, among which are Muslim political representation, inner coherence of the Muslim community, effects of public policies, differentiated citizenship, gender issues and gender equality, and points of friction with the encapsulating host society, including the effects of sharia application, radicalism and the fallout of the Danish cartoon affair.

The murder of Stephen Lawrence led to the widest review of institutional racism seen in the UK. Sections of the white working-class communities in south London near to the scene of the murder, however, displayed deep hostility to the equalities and multiculturalist practice of the local state and other agencies. Drawing on extensive ethnographic research, this book relates these phenomena to the 'backlash' to multiculturalism evident during the 1990s in the USA, Australia, Canada, the UK and other European countries. It examines these within the unfolding social and political responses to race equalities in the UK and the USA from the 1960s to the present in the context of changes in social class and national political agendas. This book is unique in linking a detailed study of a community at a time of its critical importance to national debates over racism and multiculturalism, to historically wider international economic and social trends.