Citizenship and Multiculturalism in Western Liberal Democracies

Tabachnick, David Edward (Editor)/ Bradshaw, Leah (Editor)/ Abu-Laban, Yasmeen (Contributor)/ Andrew, Ed (Contributor)/ Beiner, Ronald (Contributor)

ISBN 10: 1498511724 / ISBN 13: 9781498511728

Published by Lexington Books, 2017

About this Item

189 pages. 9.50x6.25x0.75 inches. In Stock.

Seller Inventory # x-1498511724

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Citizenship and Multiculturalism in Western Liberal Democracies
• Publisher: Lexington Books
• Publication Date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1498511724
• ISBN 13: 9781498511728
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Brand New
• Weight: 0.46 kilograms

About this title

Synopsis

This volume explores some of the tensions and pressures of citizenship in Western liberal democracies. Citizenship has adopted many guises in the Western context, although historically citizenship is attached only to some variant of democracy. How democracy is configured is thus at the core of citizenship. Beginning in ancient Greece, citizenship is attached to the notion of a public sphere of deliberation, open only to a small number of males. Nonetheless, we take from these origins an understanding of citizenship that is attached to friendship, preservation of a distinct community, and adherence to law. These early conceptions of citizenship in the west have been dramatically altered in the modern context by the ascendancy of individual rights and equality, expanding the inclusiveness of definition of citizenship. The universality of rights claims has led to debate about the legitimacy of the nation state and questioning of borders. A further development in our understanding of citizenship, and one that has shifted citizenship studies considerably in the last few decades, is the backlash against the universalism of rights in the defense of cultural recognition within democratic polities. Multiculturalism as a broad spectrum of citizenship studies defends the autonomy and recognition of cultural, and sometimes religious, identity within an overarching scheme of rights and equality. This collection draws upon the many threads of citizenship in the Western tradition to consider how all of them are still extant, and contentious, in contemporary liberal democracy.

About the Author

David Edward Tabachnick is professor of political science at Nipissing University. Leah Bradshaw is professor of political science at Brock University.