A contribution to the contemporary debate about multiculturalism and democracy, this title discusses questions about immigration, national minorities, aboriginals and others. It argues that liberal democrats should often provide recognition and support for minority cultures and identities.

This book contributes to contemporary debates about multiculturalism and democratic theory by reflecting upon the ways in which claims about culture and identity are actually advanced by immigrants, national minorities, aboriginals and other groups in a number of different societies. Carens advocates a contextual approach to theory that explores the implications of theoretical views for actual cases, reflects on the normative principles embedded in practice, and takes account of the ways in which differences between societies matter. He argues that this sort of contextual approach will show why the conventional liberal understanding of justice as neutrality needs to be supplemented by a conception of justice as evenhandedness and why the conventional conception of citizenship is an intellectual and moral prison from which we can be liberated by an understanding of citizenship that is more open to multiplicity and that grows out of practices we judge to be just and beneficial.

Introduction: Contextual Political Theory, Comparative Perspectives, and Justice as Evenhandedness
Complex Justice, Cultural Difference, and Political Community
Liberalism and Culture
Distinguishing Between Difference and Domination: Reflections on the Relation Between Pluralism and Equality
Cultural Adaptation and the Integration of Immigrants: The Case of Quebec
Muslim Minorities in Liberal Democracies: Justice and the Limits of Toleration
Multiple Political Memberships, Overlapping National Identities, and the Dimensions of Citizenship
Citizenship and the Challenge of Aboriginal Self-Government: Is Deep Diversity Desirable?
Democracy and Respect for Difference: The Case of Fiji
Conclusion