Multicultural Citizenship or Citizenship in a Multicultural Polity

Liberal democratic citizenship was traditionally viewed as giving equal legal status to all citizens, irrespective of their race, religion, ethnicity, culture or language. The goal was to treat all citizens equally, exactly the same, regardless of their individual characteristics. In recent years, political theorists such as Charles Taylor, Will Kymlicka, Yael Tamir, and Iris Marion Young have challenged this view, arguing that liberal democracies such as Canada and the United States discriminate against cultural minorities and such states must adopt a policy of actively recognizing and aiding all cultural groups to maintain their cultural identities. Furthermore they argue that state neutrality with respect to culture is impossible in practice and undesirable in theory. This book argues that the critics are seriously mistaken, and that their views if put into practice will harm democracy and the people they are trying to help. There are problems with the traditional view, but it can be rethought and implemented in what the author calls "the indifferent state," a state which while indifferent to culture,religion, etc., is not indifferent to their impact on citizen well-being.