Modern Civic Republicanism

Abstract

The relationship between republicanism and multiculturalism, on the face of it, is contentious. Multiculturalists’ concern, I believe, arises mainly due to two factors: (1) it is presumed that republicanism promotes a singular common good, and as such multiculturalists are concerned with whether it can accommodate various concepts of good; and (2) multiculturalists who are concerned by the contentious relationship appear to presume that cultures are bounded and distinct wholes and thereby consider that each comes with a distinct and differing concept of good. Both presumptions are mistaken and have been undergoing revisions. First, contemporary republicans do not appeal to a unified common good but rather to common concerns among interdependent citizens that I shall also emphasize; and second, along with many contemporary scholars on multiculturalism, I have been critiquing the essentialist notion of culture in this book. Note also that feminists, in general, are also concerned with the ‘relationship between feminism and republicanism’ as the tradition of republicanism was born of ‘masculine origin’ that promoted a masculine model of public interests (Phillips 2000: 279–93). Anne Phillips, however, shows that the relationship has ‘recently undergone a marked transformation, from erstwhile antagonists to possible friends’ (2000: 279).