Colloque

Liberalism and the Politicization of Ethnicity

Will Kymlicka

Membre a labase

Will Kymlicka

Résumé du colloque

According to most contemporary liberal theorists, ethnicity should be treated as a "private" matter. A liberal state should not give public standing to ethnic groups, or distribute rights on the basis of individuals' cultural membership. I argue that this was not the traditional liberal view, and that it only became the liberal orthodoxy after World War II. Fears about international peace, racial segregation in the United States, and the "ethnic revival" amongst nearly-assimilated immigrant groups, have combined to reshape post-war liberal thinking on ethnicity. I argue that these fears have often distorted the real issues, particularly in situations involving national minorities, and have led to a misplaced hostility to the idea of minority rights.