Is Multiculturalism Bad for Women?

by Okin, Susan Moller; Cohen, Joshua; Howard, Matthew; Nussbaum, Martha C.

• ISBN13: 9780691004310
• ISBN10: 0691004315
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-10-01
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr

Summary

Polygamy, forced marriage, female genital mutilation, punishing women for being raped, differential access for men and women to health care and education, unequal rights of ownership, assembly, and political participation, unequal vulnerability to violence, These practices and conditions are standard in some parts of the world. Do demands for multiculturalism -- and minority group fights in particular -- make them more likely in liberal democracies? Are there fundamental conflicts between our commitment to gender equity and our increasing desire to respect the customs of minority cultures or religions? In this book, the eminent feminist Susan Moller Okin and fifteen of the world's leading thinkers about feminism and multiculturalism explore these unsettling questions in a provocative, passionate, and illuminating debate. Okin opens by arguing that some group rights can, in fact, endanger women. She points, for example, to the French government giving thousands of mate immigrants special permission to bring multiple wives into the country, despite French laws against polygamy and the wives' own bitter opposition to the practice. Okin argues that. if we agree that women should not be disadvantaged because of their sex, we should not accept group rights that permit oppressive practices on the grounds that they are fundamental to minority cultures whose existence may otherwise be threatened. In reply, some respondents reject Okin's position outright contending that her views are rooted in a moral universalism that is blind to cultural difference. Others quarrel with Okin's focus on gender, or argue that we should be careful about which group rights we permit, but not reject the categoryof groups rights altogether. Okin concludes with a rebuttal clarifying, adjusting and extending her original position. These incisive and accessible essays -- expanded from their original publication in Boston Renew and including four new contributions -- are indispensable reading for anyone interested in one of the most contentious social and political issues today. The diverse contributors, in addition to Okin, are Azizah al-Hibri, Abdullah An-Na'im, Homi Bhabha, Sander Gilman, Jane Halley, Bonnie Honig, Will Kymlicka, Martha Nussbaum, Bhikhu Parekh, Katha Pollitt, Robert Post, Joseph Raz, Saskia Sassen, Cass Sunstein, and Yael Tamir.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Feminism, Multiculturalism, and Human Equality	3	(4)
Joshua Cohen
Matthew Howard
Martha C. Nussbaum
Part 1: Is Multiculturalism Bad for Women?	7	(108)
Susan Moller Okin
Part 2: REponses
Whose Culture?	27	(4)
Katha Pollitt
Liberal Complacencies	31	(4)
Will Kymlicka
``My Culture Made Me Do It''	35	(6)
Bonnie Honig
Is Western Patriarchal Feminism Good for Third World/Minority Women?	41	(6)
Azizah Y. al-Hibri
Siding with the Underdogs	47	(6)
Yael Tamir
``Barbaric'' Rituals?	53	(6)
Sander L. Gilman
Promises We Should All Keep in Common Cause	59	(6)
Abdullahi An-Na`im
Between Norms and Choices	65	(4)
Robert Post
A Varied Moral World	69	(7)
Bhikhu Parekh
Culture beyond Gender	76	(3)
Saskia Sassen
Liberalism's Sacred Cow	79	(6)
Homi K. Bhabha
Should Sex Equality Law Apply to Religious Institutions?	85	(10)
Cass R. Sunstein
How Perfect Should One Be? And Whose Culture Is?	95	(5)
Joseph Raz
Culture Constrains	100	(5)
Janet E. Halley
A Plea for Difficulty	105	(10)
Martha C. Nussbaum
Part 3: Reply	115	(18)
Susan Moller Okin
Notes	133	(12)
Contributors	145