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Abstract
I accept Kymlicka's admission that his remarks on arranged marriages and sex-segregated education were misleading, and continue to contest his description of British Muslim perspectives on the Rushdie Affair. By not recognising that Muslims are adapting to western legal systems and political culture he contributes to a polarisation and fails to see that liberals do have something to be optimistic about.

Comments on Will Kymlicka's (1996 [see abstract 9716529]) attempt to defend minority rights in liberalist philosophy. A critical reconstruction of his arguments, which are based on the assumption that members of cultural minorities often need specific group rights because they are disadvantaged in multicultural societies, is performed. It is found that, although Kymlicka is right in pointing out cultural disadvantages as a separate sphere in addition to social, economic, & political discrimination, some aspects of his theory are contradictory. His definitions of culture & ethnicity are considered inaccurate, relating to concepts of modern & traditional that easily lead to regressive views of minority groups. Further, his differentiation between multinational & polyethnic is deemed rigid & unjustified. It is concluded that the heterogeneity of minority groups does not justify group-specific legislation. 46 References. Adapted from the source document.

Kymlicka's Liberalism, Community, and Culture originated a highly influential argument about the ethical foundations of minority cultural rights. The argument is explained and assessed in its original context and in the more developed form it took in his later book, Multicultural Citizenship. In its original version the argument was seriously underspecified, but the later version cleared up some problems only to create others. Minority cultural rights were either classed as the rights to self-government of national minorities or the rights of immigrants to integration into the receiving society, a form of incorporation that welcomes the retention of hyphenated cultural identities. The argument still left ample room to doubt that nationality suffices to justify self-government and that reasons derived from the value of multicultural integration could really support immigrant rights. Alan Patten's recent book, Equal Recognition, goes far to remedy these shortcomings while remaining firmly within the liberal paradigm of cultural rights that Kymlicka established with his first book.

A comment on Will Kymlicka's "Western Political Theory and Ethnic Relations in Eastern Europe" (2001) explores how a "conceptual liberalism" confronts ethnocultural diversity in Russia, drawing on Susan Matveeva's (1993) definition of Russian liberals. Discussion begins with a consideration of post-Soviet nation building & contemporary Russian thought on the process. Traditionalist views & various typologies are identified. Neoimperial, ethnonationalist, & liberal approaches to the idea of the Russian nation are articulated before addressing some contending models of Russian federalism (eg, ethnic federalism), highlighting the problematic issue of cultural autonomy. Reform of Russian nationalities policy is briefly touched on, & three major impediments to the establishment of a Russian civic nation are delineated. It is concluded that the waning influence of Russian liberal thought & the Soviet legacy driving dominant Russian political culture suggests that Kymlicka's liberal pluralism will find little purchase. J. Zendejas

A comment on Will Kymlicka's "Western Political Theory and Ethnic Relations in Eastern Europe" (2001) explores how a "conceptual liberalism" confronts ethnocultural diversity in Russia, drawing on Susan Matveeva's (1993) definition of Russian liberals. Discussion begins with a consideration of post-Soviet nation building & contemporary Russian thought on the process. Traditionalist views & various typologies are identified. Neoimperial, ethnonationalist, & liberal approaches to the idea of the Russian nation are articulated before addressing some contending models of Russian federalism (eg, ethnic federalism), highlighting the problematic issue of cultural autonomy. Reform of Russian nationalities policy is briefly touched on, & three major impediments to the establishment of a Russian civic nation are delineated. It is concluded that the waning influence of Russian liberal thought & the Soviet legacy driving dominant Russian political culture suggests that Kymlicka's liberal pluralism will find little purchase. J. Zendejas

Examines cosmopolitanism & its claims that nationalism should be subordinate in distributive justice matters. David Held's model of cosmopolitan democracy is reviewed along with Will Kymlicka's points of criticism. It is demonstrated that Kymlicka's complaints neither undercut Held's basic arguments nor discredit the promise of his version of cosmopolitanism. K. Coddon