Multiculturalism and Liberal Democracy

Abstract

My aim in this chapter is to explore some of the ways in which multiculturalism can be seen to pose a challenge — and possibly a threat — to liberal democracy and to do so by way of concrete examples. In line with the book’s overall focus, I concentrate mainly on Britain, despite my awareness of the central — and enormously far-reaching — effects of many aspects of globalisation on multiculturalism. This is particularly relevant to a chapter on liberal democracy, a concept that highlights citizenship, equality and human rights, because ongoing changes in international thinking in all these areas have a considerable effect on thinking at the national level. For instance, European and international laws and instruments are binding on Britain and have to be considered in creating domestic legislation.¹ One of the most significant of these for this chapter is UNESCO’s Universal Declaration of Cultural Diversity (2001), which lays down guiding principles for multicultural democratic societies. These are based on the idea that ‘only when cultural diversity is in balance with social cohesion, can we find ways of democratic participation and peaceful co-existence’ (Sané, 2007: xi).²