Multiculturalism & the Politics of Difference

A. Every ethnic group that has migrated to America has found itself denigrated by those already here, and forced to organize itself on group lines by ethnic identification, entering politics to find a way in which to obtain the rights for the group that each as an individual is supposed to have under the Constitution.

A. The liberal emphasis on conditions to examine and pursue one's ends is problematic for three reasons when considering cultural goods.

1. Insistence on a political identity which values basic individual equality and liberty may pose problems for groups whose comprehensive doctrines place more value on a social self.

2. The notion of individual choice assumes that a culture, or parts of it, can be forfeited for something else that is more valuable.

3. The notion of free choice presumes some level of autonomy; it seems to be based on the assumption that people have definite interests of their own that can be clearly delineated from other people's interests.

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The liberal ideal of neutrality allows for public tolerance of many different visions of "the good life." Liberals acknowledge that modern constitutional governments are composed of different groups with varying notions of the good life, which are often conflicting. Therefore, public agreement regarding "the good" is not sought. Instead, liberal political theorists seek to provide grounds that legitimate the power of the state, or the public, in mediating conflicting interests. The project of legitimization is conceived of in terms of rules for participation in public discussions in which legitimate political decisions are made. The question is not "On what do we all currently agree that can serve as a basis of political discussion?" Nor is it an answer to the question, "What can we agree on once we have bracketed such differences as religion, gender, race and ethnicity?" It is more like "What can we agree on, given ample time for debate, that allows us to meet in the commons and that does not require us to abandon or bracket those background convictions on which we differ?" This means that the construction of a fabric of public reason, of a commons, requires real arguments between real interlocutors with real substantive moral
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Some common words found in the essay are:
HUMAN RIGHTS, ASSIMILATION Assimilation, CONCLUSIONS Multiculturalism's, Politics Recognition, Satanic Verses, LIBERALISM INTRODUCTION, Community Culture, According Hegel, Differentiated Citizenship, POLITICS DIFFERENCE, politics difference, conception justice, kymlicka 1989, rawls 1985, individual rights, university press, politics recognition, political conception, taylor 1992, political conception justice, universal dignity, recognition politics difference, politics universal dignity, culture convenient democracy, convenient democracy cultural,
Approximate Word count = 4154
Approximate Pages = 17 (250 words per page)