Published by Routledge
Originally published in The Routledge Companion to Social and Political Philosophy
Multiculturalism had its beginnings as a public policy in Canada and Australia. It supplanted earlier policies, which aimed at assimilating both indigenous peoples and immigrants to create a homogeneous and cohesive population. Those earlier policies had provoked hostility from indigenous peoples, who had begun to call for recognition of their cultural distinctiveness and redress of historical wrongs. They also led to disaffection among immigrant groups, who expressed a strong desire to hold on to some, if not most, of their customs, their cultural traditions, and their languages. Some groups went further to argue that differences should not only be tolerated but also preserved and protected. The central issue in the theoretical debates that ensued has been whether, how, and to what extent diversity should be embraced. Much of that debate has taken place against the backdrop of broadly liberal thinking, for the problem of multiculturalism has been an issue primarily in liberal democracies. There are two questions that need to be resolved. The first is whether minority groups ought to be given cultural protection. The second is whether minority groups ought to be required or made to conform to (at least the most important) ethical standards of the majority society.
