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| Is Multiculturalism Bad for Women?
ISBN: 9781400840991
Platform/Publisher: JSTOR / Princeton University Press
Digital rights: Users: unlimited; Printing: chapter; Download: chapter
Subjects: Minority women -- Social conditions; Sex discrimination against women; Multiculturalism; Culture conflict; Feminism;
A buzzword for political correctness, multiculturalismÄwith its implications of ethnocentrism and group rightsÄhas, inevitably, become a shibboleth. Feminist theorist and Stanford political science professor Okin assesses what adhering to sanctioned cultural practices (such as female genital mutilation, polygamy, child marriage and forced illiteracy) can and does mean for women. She argues that women are subjected to derogatory treatment in all culturesÄmajority and minorityÄalthough majority liberal thought often presumes a level of equality and egalitarianism between the sexes that is frequently absent in minority cultures. Proponents of cultural integrity (including in religious practice) ignore this fact, Okin asserts, elevating group rights over individual rights, to the detriment of women. This collection offers succinct, compelling and intelligent arguments on both sides, notably from a diverse group of "respondents" to Okin's viewsÄamong them Katha Pollitt, columnist for the Nation; Azizah Y. al-Hibri, professor of law, founder of KARAMAH: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights and expert on Islamic jurisprudence; and multicultural theorist and philosophy professor Will Kymlicka. "A Plea for Difficulty," an essay by Martha Nussbaum, a professor of law and ethics at the University of Chicago, sums up the complexity of the issues. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Susan Moller Okin is Marta Sutton Weeks Professor of Ethics in Society and Professor of Political Science at Stanford University. She is the author of Women in Western Political Thought (Princeton) and Justice, Gender, and the Family (Basic Books). Joshua Cohen is Arthur and Ruth Sloan Professor of Political Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and is Editor in Chief of Boston Review . Matthew Howard is an editor and writer living in New York, and a contributing editor to Boston Review . Martha C. Nussbaum is Ernst Freund Distinguished Professor of Law and Ethics at the University of Chicago. |
