Introduction

Abstract

Structuring relations between minorities and the larger society of which they are a part poses a major challenge to both goodwill and human ingenuity. Some political problems are engendered by need and ambition in situations of scarcity. In such cases the contestants have no difficulty recognizing and acknowledging the validity of their competitors’ demands: for they are not different from their own. Individual “guestworkers” in West Germany desire better housing and the same right as German nationals to make a permanent home there. Individual French Canadians seek the same opportunities for economic advancement or for political and social status as English speakers. Individual Pakistanis in Great Britain desire security from personal violence, and West Indians a sense that they are treated fairly by the police. But our concerns have additional poignancy because so often they arise where no contestant wishes to harm the individual members of an opposing group, where all contestants want only what is best for each other. For instance, opponents of bilingual education are often motivated by a genuine desire to enhance the life chances of children of minority linguistic communities.