Minority Rights Between Diversity and Community

by Preece, Jennifer Jackson

• ISBN13: 9780745623962
• ISBN10: 0745623964
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-12-23
• Publisher: Polity

Summary

The question of minority rights is one of the great dilemmas of contemporary politics. Increases in the flow of immigrants, migrants and refugees have raised public concerns that greater cultural and ethnic diversity creates instability within nation-states. But does stability really require homogeneity? Or can it be maintained in the presence of different minority groups? In this path-breaking book, Jackson Preece analyses whether traditional minority rights theory is sufficiently dynamic to inform effective responses to modern challenges. The central premise behind minority rights is that groups recognized and supported by the political community are far less likely to challenge its authority or threaten its territorial integrity. However, as Jackson Preece shows, the potential for collisions of values and interests still exists, and the possibility of a permanent solution to the problem of diversity remains illusive. Minority Rights will be an indispensable resource for students and scholars of political science, international relations, law, and sociology.

Author Biography

Jennifer Jackson-Preece is Lecturer in Nationalism in Europe at the European Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
List of Abbreviations	x
1 Understanding the 'Problem of Minorities'	1	(17)
2 Religion	18	(40)
3 Race	58	(41)
4 Language	99	(37)
5 Ethnicity	136	(46)
6 Beyond the 'Problem of Minorities'?	182	(10)
Appendix A: Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities	192	(5)
Appendix B: Selected Documents	197	(3)
References	200	(8)
Index	208