Liberal Republicanism, Multiculturalism and Demands for Cultural Democracy

Abstract

This article explores the roots of the philosophico-political challenge raised by multiculturalism against the liberal republican conception of democracy. Having been inspired from the postmodern critique of modernity and the end of class/ideology theses posed by the neo-conservative circles, multiculturalism, both in its liberal and communitarian versions, gave birth to a new ideal of cultural democracy. The multicultural ideal of cultural democracy has caused a conceptual shift in the conventional liberal understanding of rights, representation and civil society. Basing on tenuous theoretical justifications for group-based rights, multiculturalism refutes the difference-blind liberal theory of rights. It is argued that because of its culturalist and communitarian orientations and its limited vision of human rights that sacrifices human autonomy to the authenticity of the community, multiculturalism has no potential for further democratizing the liberal republican vision of democracy.

Keywords

Liberalism, Multiculturalism, Cultural Democracy, Postmodernism

Citation

İrem, Nazım, “Liberal Republicanism, Multiculturalism and Demands for Cultural Democracy”, International Relations, Volume 2, Issue 8 (Winter 2005-2006), pp. 33-75.

Affiliations

• Nazım İrem, Assistant Professor Dr., Dokuz Eylul University, Department of International Relations