Equality in a multicultural society

Much of the traditional discussion of equality deals with that between individuals and is predicated on the assumption of a culturally homogenous society. It is therefore of limited help in dealing with intercultural equality or with equality between individuals belonging to different cultures. Equality requires equal treatment of those who are equal in relevant respects. What respects are relevant, what responses they deserve, and what constitutes equal treatment cannot be determined in transcultural or culturally neutral terms. This is equally true of such other ideas as equal opportunity, equality before the law, and equal liberty. They all require cultural translation and a sensitive search for cultural equivalence. The author discusses these and related issues by analysing concrete cases and drawing out their theoretical implications.     

Dilemmas of a Multicultural Theory of Citizenship

In his multicultural citizenship Will Kymlicka offers a liberal theory of minority rights. I argue that although his theory is ingenious, it is seriously defective. Since liberalism itself is a specific culture, a liberal theory of multiculturalism is logically incoherent. Kymlicka makes the further mistake of thinking that all cultured communities conceptualise and relate to culture in an identical manner. His discussion of the rights of immigrants rests on a flawed understanding of the nature of immigration, and is highly questionable.