Surviving Diversity

by Spinner-Halev, Jeff

• ISBN13: 9780801863462
• ISBN10: 0801863465
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-04-14
• Publisher: Johns Hopkins Univ Pr

Summary

While liberal advocates of multiculturalism frequently call for tolerance of those with diverse views, this tolerance is often not extended to members of religious groups. This lack is perhaps not surprising, since the liberal ideals of autonomy, equality, and inclusiveness are the very ones that many religious groups--particularly the more conservative ones--reject. Yet, as Jeff Spinner-Halev argues in Surviving Diversity, any theory of multiculturalism that fails to take religious groups into account is incomplete. Spinner-Halev proposes three principles on which accommodation of exclusive religious groups should be based. First, they must provide their children with a basic education and allow adults to leave the community if they wish. Second, with some exceptions they should be welcomed to participate in the public sphere, since such participation often bolsters citizenship. Third, they should be free to exclude others from their institutions, except when doing so substantially harms the citizenship of others. While not condoning such extremist groups as the Branch Davidians or the Christian Identity movement, Spinner-Halev stresses that most religious conservatives have chosen to live a life that, in a permissive Western democracy, requires considerable restraint and thought. He concludes by demonstrating how the ideals of multiculturalism can be extended to such citizens, creating a society tolerant of even greater diversity.

Author Biography

Jeff Spinner-Halev is the Schlesinger Associate Professor of Social Justice at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He is the author of The Boundaries of Citizenship: Race, Ethnicity, and Nationality in the Liberal State, also available from Johns Hopkins.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction	1	(23)
The Limits of Cultural Recognition	24	(33)
Autonomy and the Religious Life	57	(29)
Morality and Citizenship	86	(23)
Educating Citizens and Educating Believers	109	(33)
The Public Squares	142	(24)
Identity and Discrimination	166	(35)
Surviving Diversity	201	(20)
Notes	221	(20)
Index	241