Gender & the Law, Civil Rights - General & Miscellaneous

Multicultural Jurisdictions: Cultural Differences and Women's Rights

Name: Multicultural Jurisdictions: Cultural Differences and Women's Rights
Author: Ayelet Shachar
ISBN: 9780521772099

by Ayelet Shachar, Stephen Holmes (Contribution by), Russell Hardin (Contribution by), John Keane (Contribution by), I. Shapiro

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Overview

Is it possible for the state simultaneously to respect deep cultural differences and to protect the hard-won citizenship rights of vulnerable group members, in particular women? This book argues that this is not only theoretically needed, but also institutionally feasible. Shachar's fresh approach proceeds from an acknowledgment of the potentially negative effects of well-intentioned multicultural accommodation, which often forces the most vulnerable constituents of cultural groups into an impossible choice: either an allegiance to their culture, or an exercise of their rights. Rejecting prevalent normative and legal solutions to this "paradox of multicultural vulnerability," Multicultural Jurisdictions develops a powerful argument for enhancing the jurisdictional autonomy of religious and cultural minorities while at the same time providing viable legal-institutional solutions to the problem of sanctioned intra-group rights violation. This new "joint governance" approach is guided by an ambitiously innovative principle: one that strives for the reduction of injustice between minority groups and the wider society, together with the enhancement of justice within them. Shachar applies this new approach to contested social arenas, such as family law, immigration policy, and criminal justice. She shows how individuals who view themselves as simultaneously belonging to more than one membership community and subject to more than one legal authority can be empowered by their multiple affiliations. Unique in its interdisciplinary and comparative approach, this book makes a timely intervention in current multiculturalist and feminist debates by offering an in-depth exploration of practical legal-institutional solutions to vital normative dilemmas that beset diverse societies around the globe. It will interest students of political and social theory, law, religion, institutional design, as well as cultural and gender studies.

Synopsis

Shachar offers a 'joint governance' legal-institutional solution to the 'paradox of multicultural violation'.

About the Author, Ayelet Shachar

AYELET SHACHAR is Assistant Professor of Law in the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto. She is also currently a Member at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton. She has written extensively on issues of contemporary political theory, group rights and gender equality. Her most recent publications appear in the Journal of Political Philosophy, Political Theory and the Harvard Civil Rights - Civil Liberties Law Review. She has also contributed to several edited volumes including Multicultural Questions (1999); Citizenship in Diverse Societies (2000); and From Migrants to Citizens (2000).