The Democratic Contradictions of Multiculturalism

What is multiculturalism? Is it every person s right in a democratic society to choose his or her religion and culture and to express criticism regardless of taboos and moralistic norms? Or is it, on the contrary, the right of cultures and religions to be protected from insult and to preserve themselves against change? In The Democratic Contradictions of Multiculturalism, Frederik Stjernfelt and Jens-Martin Eriksen examine these questions in relation to both the ideology and the reality of multiculturalism. The discussion covers a range of issues, including the Muhammad cartoons, laws against blasphemy, hijab, the Islamic ban on apostasy, and the limits of the freedom of religion.

Stjernfelt and Eriksen focus their investigation on a multicultural country and examine the implications of this controversial concept as it is applied to political reality. What do people regard as the advantages and disadvantages of multiculturalism? How does the legal system influence the life of the individual? In what way does multiculturalism lead to a new segregation of society with respect to gender, culture, and religion? How can one explain the democratic contradictions of multiculturalism when the system clashes with universal values and human rights?

In recent decades, the concept of culture has appeared on the political agenda with growing importance, to a point that "culture" has become a political ideology. How did that happen? Where does this specific concept of culture come from? What are its historical roots in anthropology, philosophy, and politics? In what way does "the cultural argument" influence our way of thinking when we adopt it, more or less unconsciously, in everyday debate?

The controversy over multiculturalism has changed the political front lines as well. Liberals and the left seem to defend the rights and respect of minority cultures, while conservatives and the nationalist right seem to stand guard for the majority national culture. But the question is: are these front lines for real? At the end of the day, do the conventional left and right really think in fundamentally different ways? Or do they simply represent variations on a bigoted understanding of what culture means?

The Democratic Contradictions of Multiculturalism is an erudite manifesto for freedom and a confrontation with any kind of attempt--be it left or right--to fence people within their cultures.