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25
politics and religion. Taylor cites the Salman Rushdie case to show that these presuppositions are themselves not neutral.2 In mainstream Islam, politics and religion are not separable. The division of Church and State itself has Christian origins:
The very term secular was part of the Christian vocabulary. All this is to say that liberalism can’t and shouldn’t claim complete cultural neutrality. Liberalism is also a fighting creed. The hospitable variant I espouse, as well as the most rigid forms, has to draw the line. (62)
Taylor’s solution to the problem is to propose comparative cultural study that would lead to a fusion of horizons, a phrase he has borrowed from Gadamer.
Taylor’s essay was the first salvo in a series of increasingly serious challenges to liberal universalism that drew its sources from the Enlightenment ideal. The literature on multiculturalism, also known as the politics of identity, or the politics of difference, has proliferated in the last fifteen years or so. In the next section, I will focus on the two political theorists who represent the polar extremes of the debate: Bhiku Parikh and Brian Barry. In Section III, I will examine attempts by liberals such as Will Kymlicka and Michael Walzer to come up with a solution that would reconcile the politics of equal respect and the politics of difference.
Object Description
| Title | Negotiating pluralism and tribalism in liberal democratic societies |
| Author | Sadagopan, Shoba |
| Author email | sadagopa@usc.edu; shobasadagopan@gmail.com |
| Degree | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | Philosophy |
| School | College of Letters, Arts and Sciences |
| Date defended/completed | 2008-08-22 |
| Date submitted | 2008 |
| Restricted until | Unrestricted |
| Date published | 2008-10-15 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Lloyd, Sharon |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Dreher, John Keating, Gregory |
| Abstract | My aim in this dissertation is to enquire whether toleration as a practice is achievable. It is prior to the question of how it can be grounded as a virtue. I argue that in liberal democratic societies where there are struggles for recognition on the part of ethnocultural groups, it is possible to negotiate pluralism and tribalism in a way that a stable pluralist society can be maintained. My core thesis rests on a theory of interdependence based both on a theory of human nature and on the material fact of globalization. Insofar as we affirm our nature as human beings engaged in productive activity with other human beings, insofar as we value a world that facilitates that activity, toleration is desirable. It is achievable because with globalization there is a tendency towards homogenization that erodes cultural differences. There is less reason for conflict because what we have in common, our interdependence, goes far deeper than culture. A further sufficient condition may be found in well thought-out policies that are executed through education and dialogue. |
| Keyword | toleration; value pluralism; liberalism; cultural homogenization; globalization; common citizenship |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m1658 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | Sadagopan, Shoba |
| Repository name | Libraries, University of Southern California |
| Repository address | Los Angeles, California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Filename | etd-Sadagopan-2395 |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume26/etd-Sadagopan-2395.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 28 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 25 politics and religion. Taylor cites the Salman Rushdie case to show that these presuppositions are themselves not neutral.2 In mainstream Islam, politics and religion are not separable. The division of Church and State itself has Christian origins: The very term secular was part of the Christian vocabulary. All this is to say that liberalism can’t and shouldn’t claim complete cultural neutrality. Liberalism is also a fighting creed. The hospitable variant I espouse, as well as the most rigid forms, has to draw the line. (62) Taylor’s solution to the problem is to propose comparative cultural study that would lead to a fusion of horizons, a phrase he has borrowed from Gadamer. Taylor’s essay was the first salvo in a series of increasingly serious challenges to liberal universalism that drew its sources from the Enlightenment ideal. The literature on multiculturalism, also known as the politics of identity, or the politics of difference, has proliferated in the last fifteen years or so. In the next section, I will focus on the two political theorists who represent the polar extremes of the debate: Bhiku Parikh and Brian Barry. In Section III, I will examine attempts by liberals such as Will Kymlicka and Michael Walzer to come up with a solution that would reconcile the politics of equal respect and the politics of difference. |
