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The London School of Economics and Political Science Is Democratic The London School of Economics and Political Science Is Democratic Multiculturalism Really Possible? Aslan Amani A thesis submitted to the Department of Government of the London School of Economics for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, London, February 2013 1 Declaration I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the MPhil/PhD degree of the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others (in which case the extent of any work carried out jointly by me and any other person is clearly identified in it). The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without my prior written consent. I warrant that this authorisation does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party. I declare that my thesis consists of 88,716 words. 2 Abstract This thesis is an examination of the interplay between democratic norms and principles defining philosophical multiculturalism. Its most general aim is to find an answer to the following question concerning the possibility of democratic multiculturalism; do democracies adopt multicultural policies at the expense of their democratic credentials or are the two compatible with each other? The argument emerges from the interaction of two strong threads that run through the thesis. First, the thesis engages with three prevalent views on how democracies should react to the facts of disagreement – count heads, turn difference into a positive resource, and design procedures to maximize traditional values lying in the triangle of freedom, equality, and fraternity. In response, I offer a fourth view of democracy that combines minimalism with normativity. Normative minimalist democracy (NMD) holds that these three views are unable to appreciate the respective normative weights of dissensus and consensus, both of which have an ineliminable place in the modern democratic practices and their normative underpinnings. The second thread responds to another trichotomy – the three supposedly democratic challenges that philosophers of multiculturalism have brought up over the last two decades (as well as to the corresponding liberal-egalitarian counter-responses), which respectively draw attention to the importance of recognition, self-rule, and inclusion. With respect to these challenges and counter-challenges, the dissertation argues that both supporters and opponents of multiculturalism have democratic aspirations; and democratic response to multiculturalism should not be overshadowed by either unfounded optimism about the prospects of a substantive consensus fair to all previously marginalized minorities, nor by pessimism about the relapse into the pre- Enlightenment world due to the so-called return of parochialism. In between these two positions lies a more democratic response to multiculturalism – one that neither celebrates the role of culture as a unique vehicle of human fulfilment, nor dismisses it as a remnant of the past. The argument for seeking a middle ground arises in part out of frustration with the two extremes. Supplementing this critical aspect of the argument is a more constructive strand that explores what the individualist core of democracy implies with respect to political diversity in the form of disagreeing groups. Although NMD leaves room for a theory of groups substantially thinner than the one its multiculturalist critiques require because it is more clearly constrained by democracy’s individualist commitments, it is still thicker than the one standard liberal egalitarianism allows. 3 CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 7 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 9 PART I: NORMATIVE MINIMALIST DEMOCRACY (NMD) CHAPTER 2 NORMATIVE UNDERPINNINGS OF MINIMALIST DEMOCRACY 20 2.1 SCHUMPETERIAN CONCEPTION OF DEMOCRACY 2.2 DEMOCRACY : METHOD OR IDEAL ? 2.3 FILLING IN THE GAPS 2.3.1 EQUALITY 2.3.2 RESPONSIVE GOVERNMENT 2.3.3 NON -DOMINATION 2.3.4 REGENERATIVE DIMENSION 2.4 CONCLUSION CHAPTER 3 WHY EQUALITY AND DIFFERENCE MATTER ? LIMITS , AND VALUE , 58 OF CONSENSUS AND DISSENSUS 3.1 WHY EQUALITY MATTERS 3.1.1 HOW EQUALITY FIGURES IN THE DISTINCTIVENESS OF DEMOCRACY ? 3.1.2 IN SEARCH OF A DEMOCRATIC CONCEPTION OF EQUALITY : CHARLES BEITZ 3.1.3 FROM BEITZ TO LIMITS OF AGREEMENT 3.1.4 RETURNING TO MINIMALIST EQUALITY : TWO GENERAL OBJECTIONS 3.2 WHY NON -DOMINATION MATTERS 3.2.1 THE FACT OF DISAGREEMENT AND DEMOCRATIC NON - DOMINATION 3.2.2 DIFFERENT ELEMENTS OF NON -DOMINATION 3.2.2.1 DEMOCRATIC CONTESTATION 3.2.2.2 DECENTRALIZATION /D EVOLUTION 3.2.2.3 DEMOCRATIC PRIVACY 3.3 LIMITS AND VALUE OF CONSENSUS AND DISSENSUS 3.4 NMD AS A DISTINCTIVE THEORY OF DEMOCRACY 3.4.1 IN RELATION TO AGONISTIC DEMOCRACY 3.4.2 IN RELATION TO CONTESTATORY DEMOCRACY 4 PART II: DEMOCRATIC PRETENSIONS OF MULTICULTURALISTS AND ANTI -MULTICULTURALISTS CHAPTER 4 EVALUATING THE THREE MULTICULTURALIST CHALLENGES : 119 RECOGNITION , INCLUSION , AND SELF -RULE 4.1 MULTICULTURALISM AS AN UMBRELLA CONCEPT 4.2 THE RECOGNITION CHALLENGE 4.3 THE SELF -GOVERNMENT CHALLENGE 4.4 THE INCLUSION CHALLENGE 4.5 CONCLUSION : MULTICULTURALIST PRETENSIONS AND THE WAY FORWARD CHAPTER 5 DEMOCRATIC ASPIRATIONS OF ANTI -MULTICULTURALISTS - IS 164 MULTICULTURALISM BAD FOR DEMOCRACY ? 5.1 ANTI -MULTICULTURALIST ARGUMENTS 5.1.1 EQUAL RIGHTS ARGUMENT 5.1.2 SOLIDARITY ARGUMENT 5.1.3 THE HOLIST ARGUMENTS 5.2 RESPONSE TO ANTI -MULTICULTURALISTS 5.2.1 DOES EQUAL RIGHTS ARGUMENT VINDICATE ANTI -MULTICULTURALISM ? 5.2.1.2 (I N)ADEQUACY OF PRIVATIZATION 5.2.2 IS PLURALITY OF GROUPS BAD FOR DEMOCRACY ? 5.2.3 HOW DEMOCRACIES MAKE DECISIONS 5.2.4 HOW JUSTIFIED ARE CONCERNS WITH SOLIDARITY AND OTHER HOLISTIC ISSUES ? PART III: DEMOCRATIC MULTICULTURALISM CHAPTER 6 INDIVIDUALIST OVERTONES OF NMD AND A NEGATIVE 206 THEORY OF GROUPS 6.1 DEMOCRATIC INDIVIDUALISM 6.2 WHAT ROLE CAN GROUPS PLAY IN THE PICTURE OF INDIVIDUALIST DEMOCRACY ? 6.2.1 IMPROPRIETY OF POLITICIZING MOTIVES 6.2.2 ANTI -ASSIMILATIONIST BIAS 6.2.3 THE GROUP DYNAMICS IN DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS 6.3 HOW TO THINK OF GROUPS ? 6.3.1 INTEREST GROUPS AND DEMOCRATIC MULTICULTURALISM 6.3.2 DO CULTURAL GROUPS FIT INTO THE REVISED PLURALIST MODEL ? 6.4 CONCLUSION 5 CHAPTER 7 IS DEMOCRATIC MULTICULTURALISM REALLY POSSIBLE ? 251 7.1 RESPONDING TO SOME MULTICULTURALIST CONCERNS 7.1.1 SPEEDING UP ASSIMILATION OF ALREADY DISADVANTAGED GROUPS ? 7.1.2 NOT ENOUGH CULTURAL RECOGNITION ? 7.1.3 UNDERMINING LEGITIMATE ASPIRATIONS TO SELF -GOVERNMENT ? 7.1.4 NOT BEING ABLE TO PROVIDE THE REQUISITE LEVEL OF DEMOCRATIC INCLUSION ? 7.2 RESPONSES TO SOME ANTI -MULTICULTURALIST CONCERNS 7.2.1 INEGALITARIAN SOCIAL LIFE 7.2.2 BALKANIZATION 7.2.3 INSTITUTIONAL CONUNDRUM 7.3 WHY CALL THIS DEMOCRATIC MULTICULTURALISM ? CONCLUSION : THE STRANGE DEATH OF MULTICULTURALISM 284 BIBLIOGRAPHY 293 6 Acknowledgements In the process of writing this dissertation, I have incurred many debts. First and foremost, I am thankful to my doctoral supervisor Professor Chandran Kukathas for the guidance he provided on all aspects of this project. He patiently listened to many arguments, some of which never made it into the thesis, read many draft chapters, and helped me clear up a lot of confusion along the way. Without his commitment and scholarly guidance, this dissertation would have never materialised. I am also thankful to the members of political theory group at the London School of Economics. I have benefited immensely from discussing political theory with Professor Paul Kelly, Professor Anne Phillips, Professor Katrin Flikschuh, Dr Kai Spiekermann, Dr Lea Ypi, Dr James Gledhill, and Dr Mathew Coakley. Fellow PhD students of the Government Department were good colleagues to work with, and more importantly great friends. I would like to single out Derek Vallès, Edward Hall, Karabekir Akkoyunlu, Yonathan Reshef, Baldwin Wong, Luke Ulas, Pietro Maffettone, with whom we shared a research space and enjoyed many conversations on things political over the past three-plus years. I am indebted to my undergraduate professors at the University of Toronto from whom I learned the fundamentals of political science. Besides being an excellent teacher of political science and history, Professor Robert Austin has been a mentor and friend. His support and encouragement has been invaluable, and is greatly appreciated. Also special thanks to Professor Rebecca Kingston for encouraging me to study political theory at the graduate level. 7 My father Saleh and my mother Arzu have been excellent teachers and loving parents. Their unwavering love, commitment, and advice made life much easier and worthier. My sister Nigar has been a caring sibling, whose love and friendship I deeply cherish. When I had to prioritise my doctoral studies over other no less important parts of our joint life, my wife Gunel was there to step in, and shoulder a greater share of responsibility. She has offered more love and support than she had to, for which I will always be grateful. Finally, I want to thank our daughter Angelina for bringing greater joy and responsibility to our lives – she has been at the centre of much that transpired in the past two years. 8 Chapter 1: Introduction Only on rare occasions do newly coined terms enter into the everyday language of politics as forcefully as multiculturalism has done in the last three decades in many established democracies of the West. From parliamentary debates to electoral campaigns, from newspaper and TV commentaries to citizen protests, struggles of cultural, racial, religious and other identity groups have received a great deal of – supportive or critical – attention. Academic political theory, too, has not remained oblivious to the “intensification and multiplication” of political struggles “mobilized on the basis of gender, race, language, ethnicity, indigeneity, religion, and sexuality.” 1 The discussion of multiculturalism has grown from a few books published in the late 1980s and early 90s into a voluminous literature by the early 2000s.
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