Emancipating Cultural Pluralism

Edited by Cris E. Toffolo
Afterword by M. Crawford Young

Subjects: Cultural Studies
Series: SUNY series in National Identities
Paperback : 9780791455982, 292 pages, February 2003
Hardcover : 9780791455975, 292 pages, March 2003

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Table of contents

Preface

Part 1. Introduction

1. Overview and Critique of the Present Research into the Politics of Cultural Pluralism
Cris Toffolo

Part 2. Transforming the Conceptual, Theoretical, and Methodological Terrain

2. A Propaedeutic to the Theorizing of Cultural Pluralism
Jeff Hoover

3. The Ethnic State: The Structural Generation of Ethnic Conflict by the International System
Virginia Q. Tilley

4. Cleansing Ethnicity: Taking Group Harms Seriously
Thomas W. Simon

Part 3. Interrogating the Logic of Cultural Politics

5. Forjando Patria: Anthropology, Criminology, and the Post-Revolutionary Discourse on Citizenship
Robert Buffington

6. The Shari'a State: The Case of the Islamists in the Sudan
Ismail H. Abdalla

7. Mahatma Gandhi on Indian Self-Rule: An Instrumentalist, an Ethno-Symbolic, or a Psychological Discourse of Nationalism?
Manfred B. Steger

8. Here We Do Not Speak Bhojpuri: A Semantics of Opposition
Beth Simon

9. Reclaiming Sacred Hindu Space at Ayodhya: The Hindu Right and the Politics of Cultural Symbolism in Contemporary India
Ellen Christensen

Part 4. Transforming the Institutional Framework

10. Self-Government in the Darjeeling Hills of India
Selma K. Sonntag

11. Politics of State Creation and Ethnic Relations in Nigeria: The Case of Former Bendel State
Paul G. Adogamhe

12. Ethnicity and Constitutionalism in Ethiopia
Assefaw Bariagaber

Part 5: Conclusion

13. Afterword: Interrogating the Emancipation of Cultural Pluralism
Crawford Young

Contributors

Index

Examines both the benign and harmful aspects of identity politics.

Description

Combining detailed case studies with discussions of deeper theoretical controversies, Emancipating Cultural Pluralism investigates both the benign and harmful aspects of identity politics. This provocative collection delves into some of the most difficult issues of cultural pluralism, such as what accounts for the immense power of identity politics, whether identity politics can be inherently good or evil, whether states are the right institutions to deal with ethnic conflict, the prevention of genocide, the value of devolving power to the local level, and more. The contributions are united by the conviction that more attention needs to be paid to the normative issues associated with various expressions of cultural pluralism, for the ethical implications of the phenomena are too profound to be ignored.

Cris E. Toffolo is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of St. Thomas.