95:1 January 2012
Dilemmas of Multiculturalism

Deadline for Submissions: January 31, 2011
Advisory Editor: H. E. Baber, University of San Diego (baber@sandiego.edu)

History shows that cultural diversity can enrich societies and lead to great flowerings of creativity and prosperity – but that it can also threaten social cohesion. The present issue of The Monist is concerned with the dilemmas that arise when, for example, the cultural norms of minority communities conflict with the norms of the larger society. To what extent are liberal democracies obliged to accommodate illiberal communities whose policies and practices constrain the options of their members? Is multiculturalism bad for women insofar as traditional cultures promote practices and prescribe roles for women that are, by Western standards, restrictive or oppressive? Is multiculturalism good for minority communities? Is there, for example, a conflict of interest between cultural preservationists and those individuals who would prefer to assimilate into the wider culture? Do individuals in minority communities have an obligation to identify with ancestral cultures? Are cultural and communal attachments constraints external to the self or are they self-defining, and so vital for well-being? Cultures have always evolved, both from within and through contact with other cultures. Traditional societies in particular are experiencing radical change as they are drawn into the emerging global economy. Are efforts to maintain traditional languages, practices and traditions of necessity in the interest of members of these societies? Do such efforts preserve a culture or thwart its natural development? Contributors are invited to address these and related questions posed by multiculturalism.