Liberalism and Minority Rights: A Theoretical Picture
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.56976/rjsi.v5i3.306Keywords:
Minority rights, Individual rights, Pluralist societies, Liberalism, TolerationAbstract
In the last few decades there has been a great push toward the recognition of group rights for minorities. Besides a number of reasons which explain this rising interest in the issue, the general criticism of the liberal theory is the prime one. Liberalism is criticized for ignoring the issue of how belonging to groups affects individual autonomy and equality. Group rights are seen as a device legitimating a wide range of claims raised by minorities in pluralist states. The striking fact is that plurality has become a major source of political clash and violence in the world. Most conflicts of our time are internal arising out of ethno-cultural strife, which often deteriorate into massive violations of human rights and incalculable suffering. It was believed that liberal education and modern means of communication would link people together across states and continents and the relevance of cultural identity would progressively vanish. Moreover, the application of the universal framework of rights would properly address the demands of minorities and would cause a steady assimilation of citizens resulting in blending of all cultures and the emergence of a single cosmopolitan society. However, this optimism was flawed and identity consciousness has increased rather than decreased. Neither globalization nor democratic transformation has helped to avoid ethno-cultural conflicts. This paper tries to explore the available literature in the field by addressing the issue of minority rights and minorities accommodation in the pluralist society for the sake of justice, hormone and stabilities of these societies. The study is qualitative in nature based on secondary data.
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