Conclusion: Liberal Multiculturalism and Its Limits

Abstract

As the debates on the accommodation of people’s cultural differences within western liberal societies have become more common, they have also become more detailed and fragmented. The theoretical and empirical, as well as political, discussions on different kinds of groups (national and linguistic minorities, indigenous peoples, immigrants, religious minorities and so on) and on different kinds of minority rights (self-governance, representation, assistance, exemption, symbolic recognition and so on) have, to a large extent, been differentiated, taking into account the complexity of normative considerations inherent in each. Many of the discussions have also operated within the political and legal contexts of particular societies, directing the debates away from the more abstract questions on the justifiability of differentiated rights within liberalism, to the more pragmatic questions on the kinds of consequences that different cultural policies may have, not only for the minorities or minority members, but also for the society at large. The critical assessments of different political models of multiculturalism have also led to scepticism, both with respect to liberal multicultural theories as well as the applicability of these theories in practice.