nonprocedural liberalism I was describing is fully ready to
accept this.
But the controversy is nevertheless disturbing. It is so for
the reason I mentioned above: that all societies are becoming
increasingly multicultural, while at the same time becoming
more porous. Indeed, these two developments go together.
Their porousness means that they are more open to multinational
migration; more of their members live the life of diaspora,
whose center is elsewhere. In these circumstances,
there is something awkward about replying simply, “This is
how we do things here.” This reply must be made in cases
like the Rushdie controversy, where “how we do things”
covers issues such as the right to life and to freedom of
speech. The awkwardness arises from the fact that there are
substantial numbers of people who are citizens and also belong
to the culture that calls into question our philosophical
boundaries. The challenge is to deal with their sense of
marginalization without compromising our basic political
principles.
This brings us to the issue of multiculturalism as it is often
debated today, which has a lot to do with the imposition of
some cultures on others, and with the assumed superiority
that powers this imposition. Western liberal societies are
thought to be supremely guilty in this regard, partly because
of their colonial past, and partly because of their marginalization
of segments of their populations that stem from other
cultures. It is in this context that the reply “this is how we do
things here” can seem crude and insensitive. Even if, in the
nature of things, compromise is close to impossible here—
one either forbids murder or allows it—the attitude presumed
by the reply is seen as one of contempt. Often, in
fact, this presumption is correct. Thus we arrive again at the
issue of recognition.
Recognition of equal value was not what was at stake—at
least in a strong sense—in the preceding section. There it
was a question of whether cultural survival will be acknowl-
nonprocedural liberalism I was describing is fully ready to
accept this.
But the controversy is nevertheless disturbing. It is so for
the reason I mentioned above: that all societies are becoming
increasingly multicultural, while at the same time becoming
more porous. Indeed, these two developments go together.
Their porousness means that they are more open to multinational
migration; more of their members live the life of diaspora,
whose center is elsewhere. In these circumstances,
there is something awkward about replying simply, “This is
how we do things here.” This reply must be made in cases
like the Rushdie controversy, where “how we do things”
covers issues such as the right to life and to freedom of
speech. The awkwardness arises from the fact that there are
substantial numbers of people who are citizens and also belong
to the culture that calls into question our philosophical
boundaries. The challenge is to deal with their sense of
marginalization without compromising our basic political
principles.
This brings us to the issue of multiculturalism as it is often
debated today, which has a lot to do with the imposition of
some cultures on others, and with the assumed superiority
that powers this imposition. Western liberal societies are
thought to be supremely guilty in this regard, partly because
of their colonial past, and partly because of their marginalization
of segments of their populations that stem from other
cultures. It is in this context that the reply “this is how we do
things here” can seem crude and insensitive. Even if, in the
nature of things, compromise is close to impossible here—
one either forbids murder or allows it—the attitude presumed
by the reply is seen as one of contempt. Often, in
fact, this presumption is correct. Thus we arrive again at the
issue of recognition.
Recognition of equal value was not what was at stake—at
least in a strong sense—in the preceding section. There it
was a question of whether cultural survival will be acknowl-
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