Engaging Cultural Differences: The Multicultural Challenge in Liberal Democracies

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

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.