Multiculturalism without culture
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Multiculturalism without culture
Princeton University Press, c2007
- : pbk
Available at 35 libraries
Note
Some copies of pbk. published 2009
Includes bibliographical references (p. [181]-190) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
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.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments ix INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER ONE: Multiculturalism without Culture 11 CHAPTER TWO: Between Culture and Cosmos 42 CHAPTER THREE: What's Wrong with Cultural Defence? 73 CHAPTER FOUR: Autonomy, Coercion, and Constraint 100 CHAPTER FIVE: Exit and Voice 133 CHAPTER SIX: Multiculturalism without Groups? 158 Bibliography 181 Index 191
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