Master Cultural diversity without the state: How can a society based upon anarcho-capitalist libertarianism create a better environment for cultural diversity than the multicultural democratic state? VOUILLAMOZ, Michael Abstract An intellectual journey dedicated to investigating (state) multiculturalism and the multicultural democratic state in order to theorize an anarcho-capitalist libertarian approach to the phenomenon of cultural diversity imperative to the former two motivated primarily by the unsettling and increasing lack of separation between culture and politics in the Western world. Prior to this, one had entertained the idea of tackling the political puzzle of the rise of political correctness and the related erosion of the freedom of expression as noted by Trevor Phillips in his documentary. The increased presence of politically incorrect and controversial personalities, however, in the political and cultural landscape of the Western world has not brought about a more tolerant climate for objectionable ideas nor a greater degree of diversity of opinions being debated in a civilized manner. Instead, the conflict between different political and cultural groups with distinct identities continues to escalate. Reference VOUILLAMOZ, Michael. Cultural diversity without the state: How can a society based upon anarcho-capitalist libertarianism create a better environment for cultural diversity than the multicultural democratic state?. Master : Univ. Genève, 2018 Available at: http://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:102208 Disclaimer: layout of this document may differ from the published version. 1 / 1 Cultural Diversity Without The State: How can a society based upon anarcho-capitalist libertarianism create a better environment for cultural diversity than the multicultural democratic state? Maîtrise en science politique Janvier 2018 Michael Vouillamoz Sous la direction de Prof. Matteo Gianni Juré: Jérôme Grand Université de Genève Acknowledgements I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Prof. Gianni for his support, guidance, and most of all open-mindedness considering the heterodox nature of the theoretical framework that this work involves. Not for once had he discouraged me to pursue this research project on the grounds of the impracticalities of the political system proposed to ever come into realization nor on any other grounds for that matter. Furthermore, I would like to acknowledge the great deal of intellectual debt that I owe to those who have written extensively on the school of thought of anarcho-capitalist libertarianism. I would also like to thank my parents for my culturally diverse upbringing. Finally, I would like to express my appreciation for friends and acquaintances with whom I can engage in civilized political discussions despite the diverse array of cultures, ideologies, and identities that we have. Cultural Diversity Without the State – Michael Vouillamoz 1 Table of Contents 1. Introduction, Problematization, and Research Question ……………………… 3 1.1 Thesis Outline ………………………………………………………………… 6 2. Operationalization of Key Concepts and Existing Literature …………………. 7 2.1 Culture ……………………………………………………………………………….. 9 2.2 The Ethnonationalist/Alt-right Approach to Culture …………………………….. 14 2.3 (State) Multiculturalism & the Multicultural Democratic State ………………… 20 3. Multiculturalist Political Theorists and Arguments …………………………… 23 3.1 Kymlicka …………………………………………………………………………….. 23 3.2 Taylor ………………………………………………………………………………… 27 4. Cultural Diversity ………………………………………………………………… 30 4.1 Kukathas’ Classical Liberal Multiculturalism …………………………………….. 36 4.2 The Problems of Cultural Diversity ………………………………………………... 37 5. Anarcho-capitalist libertarianism ……………………………………………….. 41 5.1 Natural law, Natural rights, and the Freedom of Expression ……………………. 43 5.2 Self-ownership ……………………………………………………………………….. 46 5.3 The non-aggression principle ……………………………………………………….. 48 5.4 The State and Democracy …………………………………………………………… 49 5.5 Voluntarism and Secession ………………………………………………………….. 53 5.6 Nations by Consent ………………………………………………………………….. 56 6. Synthesis of Ideas and Conclusion ……………………………………………… 59 7. Bibliography and Other Sources ………………………………………………… 62 Cultural Diversity Without the State – Michael Vouillamoz 2 1. Introduction, Problematization, and Research Question “Politics is Downstream from Culture.” (Breitbart, Andrew)1 Whether an observation or a prophetic vision of the current state of political affairs that was to come after his death, whether one enjoys or absolutely despises the content of the news website that he founded, it would be ill-advised for anybody engaged in the study of politics to be oblivious to the symbiotic relationship between culture and politics, especially in this day and age. As it happens, if one follows the news at all, one will be constantly reminded of the fact that a pop culture icon was elected against experienced career politicians as the so called leader of the free world in the shape of Donald Trump. To add to that, Steve Bannon, the person central to Trump’s campaign strategy and his administration until his unglamorous dismissal was the successor to Andrew Breitbart at the right-wing news outlet (Sarlin, 2016). Indeed, if one looks back at history, the lack of separation between culture and politics is not at all a novelty. Even inheritors of ancient civilizations have in modern times not been immune to using both violent and non-violent political means in the quest for cultural legitimacy and dominance as the rivalry between the Communists and the Nationalists in China can attest to (Wachman, 1994). What is new however, is the violent escalation of identitarian political divisions along the lines of cultural and ethnic backgrounds in a liberal democratic society that is the United States, which was supposed to be and had indeed for longer than not been able to reconcile divisive factors that are prone to politicization. Long gone are the days of extreme political forces not resorting to violence in order to achieve change as when the Supreme Court ruling in favour of an anti-Semitic group’s right to march through a predominantly Jewish community resulted in the organizers’ cancellation of the event (Barnum, 1982). Instead, this environment in which a diversity of cultures and identities exists witnessed the violent clash between white nationalists and their extreme left opponents in Charlottesville this year culminated in the death of a protester being ran over by a car (Carissimo, 2017). In addition, the electoral statistics of the last U.S. Presidential Election in 2016, which indicated that the majority of “white voters” voted for Trump while the majority of “non-white voters” voted for Hillary Clinton further highlights the societal divide of a culturally and ethnically diverse 1 This quote was referred to in an article published on Breitbart.com by Meyers, L. (2011, August 22). Cultural Diversity Without the State – Michael Vouillamoz 3 society (Henley, 2016). For those who have any knowledge of the breakup of the former Yugoslavia, which has given rise to the term Balkanization, there is little reason to be optimistic about a political system that does not guarantee the absolute right of secession of local political communities with their distinct cultures (Pringle, 2016). This can be demonstrated in the United States Supreme Court’s 1869 ruling against Texas’ right to unilaterally declare secession (Murray, 2003) and the later on suppression of Black Nationalist secession movements with the use of state force (FBI, 2016). Therefore, as a political scientist, it is not at all beyond the scope of one’s field of study to seek a peaceful way to deal with cultural diversity and the preservation of culture as neither has rarely flourished during times of violent conflicts throughout human history. It thus comes as no surprise that there is indeed a specific branch within the field of political science dedicated to the subject matter of multiculturalism although the policy proposals and implications that it has generated have yet to successfully create an environment for cultural diversity to flourish without political conflict. On the contrary, Western European leaders such as David Cameron (Kuenssberg, 2011) and Angela Merkel (Evans, 2010) have not been shy to declare the failure of multiculturalism while the cautionary phrase “sleepwalking to segregation” in reaction to the 7 July 2005 London bombings (The Guardian, 2005) has become a self-fulfilling prophecy with the rise of domestic terrorism originating from ghettoized neighborhoods in European regions such as Luton and Molenbeek. As the Mayor of the second city explained in the aftermath of a terror attack, the lack of diversity amongst the immigrant population within the neighborhood has been “one of the main difficulties” when it comes to combating “the growing threat of homegrown terror on its streets” (Capatides, 2016). In spite of all of this, however, there has been a lack of literature on the topic that does not involve state intervention in cultural affairs while being committed to the non-initiation of force. Instead, as will be demonstrated later on in the body of this work, existing literature on the subject matter tends to favour using the state and its institutions to foster cultural diversity and facilitate the preservation of minority cultures due to a particular view of culture that is not always reflective of the realities of the world we live in. This is then the prime motivation for the inquiry