Engaging Cultural Differences: The Multicultural Challenge in Liberal Democracies

Be the first to write a review

Overview

What does tolerance mean and how does it work in practice, in such countries as the U.S., Germany, France, India, Norway, and South Africa? Twenty-five scholars—all but one from the U.S.—from the fields of law, anthropology, psychology, and political theory explore how liberal democracies do and should respond legally to differences in cultural and religious practices of minority group residents. The 21 essays explore the processes that create diversity, forms of cultural accommodation other than group status or ...
See more details below
Hardcover (New Edition)
$48.40
BN.com price
(Save 3%)$49.95 List Price
Other sellers (Hardcover)
  • All (10) from $22.05   
  • New (4) from $33.97   
  • Used (6) from $22.05   
Sending request ...

More About This Book

Overview

What does tolerance mean and how does it work in practice, in such countries as the U.S., Germany, France, India, Norway, and South Africa? Twenty-five scholars—all but one from the U.S.—from the fields of law, anthropology, psychology, and political theory explore how liberal democracies do and should respond legally to differences in cultural and religious practices of minority group residents. The 21 essays explore the processes that create diversity, forms of cultural accommodation other than group status or rights, ways in which minority groups position themselves in relation to universal human rights claims, and the contrasting conceptions of group differences as they affect institutional and legal practices. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Read More Show Less

Editorial Reviews

Foreign Affairs
A fresh attempt by scholars to tackle a central question of Western democracy: How should liberal societies respond to the cultural and religious practices of minority groups? In examining this challenge, the essays underscore the dilemmas inherent in efforts to balance commitments to liberty and equal rights with the goals of security, national identity, and community. Some chapters look at how immigrant groups import practices that challenge the limits of diversity and tolerance. Examples include the struggles over group rights in India, challenges by Muslims to traditions of church and state in France and Germany, and attempts by whites to "civilize" marriage customs in postapartheid South Africa. Other chapters ask how different traditions of law and culture can shape the accommodation of outside groups, suggesting that minorities are more easily accommodated in liberal democracies where cultural and religious differences can reside in a private sphere sharply separated from the public realm. These essays reveal complexities, dilemmas, and varied national experiences — quite an accomplishment in itself.
Booknews
What does mean and how does it work in practice, in such countries as the U.S., Germany, France, India, Norway, and South Africa? Twenty-five scholars<-->all but one from the U.S.<-->from the fields of law, anthropology, psychology, and political theory explore how liberal democracies do and should respond legally to differences in cultural and religious practices of minority group residents. The 21 essays explore the processes that create diversity, forms of cultural accommodation other than group status or rights, ways in which minority groups position themselves in relation to universal human rights claims, and the contrasting conceptions of group differences as they affect institutional and legal practices. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Read More Show Less

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780871547910
  • Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation
  • Publication date: 7/1/2002
  • Edition description: New Edition
  • Pages: 504
  • Product dimensions: 6.52 (w) x 9.98 (h) x 1.00 (d)

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Contributors
Introduction: Engaging Cultural Differences 1
Pt. I One Nation, Many Cultures: Contested Practices and Group Status in Liberal Democracies 17
Ch. 1 Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Assimilation But Were Afraid to Ask 19
Ch. 2 Living with Multiculturalism: Universalism and Particularism in an Indian Historical Context 43
Ch. 3 Legislating Religious Freedom: Muslim Challenges to the Relationship Between Church and State in Germany and France 63
Ch. 4 Civilizing the Natives: Customary Marriage in Post-Apartheid South Africa 81
Ch. 5 Immigrants, Agency, and Allegiance: Some Notes from Anthropology and From Law 99
Ch. 6 Citizenship on Trial: Nadia's Case 128
Pt. II Cultural Accommodation and Its Limits 145
Ch. 7 Accommodation and Coherence: In Search of a General Theory for Adjudicating Claims of Faith, Conscience, and Culture 147
Ch. 8 The Free Exercise of Culture: Some Doubts and Distinctions 165
Ch. 9 The Culture of Property 177
Ch. 10 In Defense of Culture in the Courtroom 194
Ch. 11 "What About Female Genital Mutilation?" and Why Understanding Culture Matters in the First Place 216
Ch. 12 About Women, About Culture: About Them, About Us 252
Pt. III The Universal Human Rights Debate: Mobilization and Resistance 269
Ch. 13 Between Nationalism and Feminism: Indigenous Women, Community, and State 271
Ch. 14 Neither Victim Nor Rebel: Feminism and the Morality of Gender and Family Life in a Hindu Temple Town 288
Ch. 15 Circumcision Debates and Asylum Cases: Intersecting Arenas, Contested Values, and Tangled Webs 309
Ch. 16 From Skepticism to Embrace: Human Rights and the American Anthropological Association from 1947 to 1999 344
Pt. IV Conceptions of Difference and the Differences They Make 363
Ch. 17 Cultural Models of Diversity in America: The Psychology of Difference and Inclusion 365
Ch. 18 The Micropolitics of Identity-Difference: Recognition and Accommodation in Everyday Life 396
Ch. 19 Plural Society and Interethnic Relations in Guinea-Bissau 417
Ch. 20 Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Silence: An Analysis of Talking as a Cultural Practice 432
Ch. 21 Color Blindness as a Barrier to Inclusion: Assimilation and Nonimmigrant Minorities 453
Index 473
Read More Show Less

Customer Reviews

Be the first to write a review
( 0 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(0)

4 Star

(0)

3 Star

(0)

2 Star

(0)

1 Star

(0)

Your Rating:

Review Guidelines
Add Recommendations
Your Name: Create a Pen Name or

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Our reader reviews allow you to share your comments on titles you liked, or didn't, with others. By submitting an online review, you are representing to Barnes & Noble.com that all information contained in your review is original and accurate in all respects, and that the submission of such content by you and the posting of such content by Barnes & Noble.com does not and will not violate the rights of any third party. Please follow the rules below to help ensure that your review can be posted.

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

We highly value and respect everyone's opinion concerning the titles we offer. However, we cannot allow persons under the age of 13 to have accounts at BN.com or to post customer reviews. Please see our Terms of Use for more details.

What to exclude from your review:

Please do not write about reviews, commentary, or information posted on the product page. If you see any errors in the information on the product page, please send us an email.

Reviews should not contain any of the following:

  • - HTML tags, profanity, obscenities, vulgarities, or comments that defame anyone
  • - Time-sensitive information such as tour dates, signings, lectures, etc.
  • - Single-word reviews. Other people will read your review to discover why you liked or didn't like the title. Be descriptive.
  • - Comments focusing on the author or that may ruin the ending for others
  • - Phone numbers, addresses, URLs
  • - Pricing and availability information or alternative ordering information
  • - Advertisements or commercial solicitation

Reminder:

  • - By submitting a review, you grant to Barnes & Noble.com and its sublicensees the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use the review in accordance with the Barnes & Noble.com Terms of Use.
  • - Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right not to post any review -- particularly those that do not follow the terms and conditions of these Rules. Barnes & Noble.com also reserves the right to remove any review at any time without notice.
  • - See Terms of Use for other conditions and disclaimers.
Search for Products You'd Like to Recommend

Recommend other products that relate to your review. Just search for them below and share!

Create a Pen Name

Your Pen Name is your unique identity on BN.com. It will appear on the reviews you write and other website activities. Your Pen Name cannot be edited, changed or deleted once submitted.

 
Your Pen Name can be any combination of alphanumeric characters (plus - and _), and must be at least two characters long.

Continue Anonymously
    If you find inappropriate content, please report it to Barnes & Noble
    Why is this product inappropriate?
    Comments (optional)