Culture and Equality: An Egalitarian Critique of Multiculturalism [Hardcover]

Brian Barry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 15, 2001

All major Western countries contain groups that differ from the mainstream and from each other in religious beliefs, customary practices, or cultural ideas. How should public policy respond to this diversity? Brian Barry challenges the currently orthodox answer and develops a powerful restatement of an egalitarian liberalism for the twenty-first century.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Concerned that rampant multiculturalism is actually dividing people instead of uniting them, Barry (philosophy and political science, Columbia Univ.) has written a comprehensive critique of multicultural policies throughout the world. The author argues that multiculturalism (a.k.a. the politics of difference or recognition) undermines the politics of redistribution, actually harming the groups it seeks to help and stands in the way of the kinds of universal policies that would benefit most members of minority groups and the society at large. He examines a wide range of multicultural legal controversies, from the practice of gypsies not to educate their children vs. the child's right to an education to the freedom of turbaned motorcycle-riding Sikhs not to wear helmets vs. public-safety laws. The author examines treating people differently in response to their different cultural beliefs, paying special attention to religion and education. His antidote is equal rights for all individuals and a normative standard of fairness that can be shared by all. Although his stance is controversial, the author makes his case through a fairly objective analysis of the legal victories of a variety of special interest groups, and his approach is rational and methodical throughout. In addition, he often proposes an alternative solution to the problem issue at hand. For academic libraries. Deborah Bigelow, Leonia P.L., N.J.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Brian Barry is Arnold A. Saltzman Professor of Philosophy and Political Science, Columbia University and winner of the 2001 Johan Skytte Prize.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 418 pages
• Publisher: Harvard University Press (March 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0674004469
• ISBN-13: 978-0674004467
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,209,314 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good read for general consumption, July 21, 2001

By 

"miloscz" (NY, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Culture and Equality: An Egalitarian Critique of Multiculturalism (Hardcover)

This book is likely to be greatly misunderstood. In this 'egalitarian critique of multiculturalism', Barry is not trotting out the tired right-wing argument that minorities don't deserve 'special treatment' etc., Rather, Barry contends that the best way to help those least advantaged is not by engaging in a politics of difference, but rather ensuring that all are guaranteed the full benefits of citizenship.

Barry wants to move away from the view that cultural rights are of prime importance so as to facilate a more inclusive social model. He gives several examples to illustrate how the politics of difference is ultimately self-defeating and non-sensical. These range from the rights of the Ahmish, to the issue of Quebec separatism.

The discussion of authors such as Kymlicka, Parekh, and Iris Young is very illuminating and to the point. He exposes the weaknesses in their arguments without marginalizing their concerns about the rights of minorities.

I read an earlier draft of this work and was blown away by the wit and energy Barry brings to bear here. This is a work by a top - notch scholar, which should be read by anyone who is interested in just what multiculturalism means.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Multiculturalism is in conflict with liberal values, August 18, 2005

By 

Gilbert De Bruycker (Belgium) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Culture and Equality: An Egalitarian Critique of Multiculturalism (Paperback)

In his book "Culture and Equality: an Egalitarian Cririque of Multiculturalism", Brian Barry convincingly argues that multiculturalism is not only a threat to liberalism, but - as in the case of communitarianism - gave the green light to practices that might well open a road that could end with Stalin or Hitler. The concept of "group rights", the claims of religious groups to self-government in internal affairs and the demands for specific minority practices and legal exemptions from general rules for members of minority groups fragments society and condemns liberal rights.
Multiculturalism can lead to the reification of cultural groups: "What we might find out by experience is that institutionalizing group representation offers opportunities and incentives for political entrepreneurs to whip up intragroup solidarity and intergroup hostility in the pursuit of power. And indeed this has happened all over the world virtually every time group representation has been introduced."
By attributing rights to cultural groups rather than individuals, one risks reifying cultures in a way that is not the case when rights are established for individuals. Eroding the universal framework to which all should abide in liberal democracies, undermine individual rights and the principles of justice. The `rule and exemption' approach - which establishes the right of cultural groups to make claims that place them outside the parameters of the law applied to others , sets a precedent which ultimately delegitimises the law. It is absurd to establish a framework of law and then undermine the universal application of the law by exempting some groups from it. Any liberal system of justice must apply the law on an equal basis. For Barry, a liberal egalitarian approach to contemporary politics requires a universal set of laws that provide a systematic framework under which everyone can live equally regardless of their private differences. Indeed it is incumbent on the state to establish a liberal system whereby individuals are able to pursue their private perceptions of the good to the greatest extent as long as that does not involve practices that infringe the law.

Brian Barry calls for a renewed attention to the concept of universal rights: "[Universal] rules define a choice set which is the same for everybody; within that choice set people pick a particular course of action by deciding what is best calculated to satisfy their underlying preferences for outcomes. . . . If uniform rules create identical choice sets, then opportunities are equal."
In his view, cultural differences are not problematic because "within a liberal state all groups are free to deploy their energies and recourses in pursuit of culturally derived objectives on the same terms."
Barry's critique of those multiculturalists who seek an alternative for liberalism is indeed devastating because he shows that their approaches conflict with basic liberal values.

21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Philosophical Restatement of Core Liberal Principles, October 26, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Culture and Equality: An Egalitarian Critique of Multiculturalism (Hardcover)

Barry's work is presented as an egalitarian critique of multiculturalism. The work argues against much of the recent theoretical literature on multiculturalism (most notably W Kymlicka, IM Young, and B Parekh), but takes a more positive stance on reasserting the basic values of liberal egalitarianism--i.e., that individuals ought to have the ability to make and exercise rights claims as individuals, not as members of collective cultural groups. Barry goes through a number of case studies, such as the case of Sikhs in Britain on safety laws to explore whether what he calls "rule and exception" approaches to public policy are consistent with liberal values. He looks in depth at issues of religion and education.

The book is important for at least two reasons. One, the argument draws on empirical case studies which is intertwined with the theoretical material--a rare achievement in political theory. Two, the work challenges so much of the underlying assumptions in multicultural thinking. It is a breath of fresh air to read a tightly argued criticism of the kind of PC nonsense that passes for scholarship these days.