This book contributes to contemporary debates about multiculturalism and democratic theory by reflecting upon the ways in which claims about culture and identity are actually advanced by immigrants, national minorities, aboriginals and other groups in a number of different societies. Carens advocates a contextual approach to theory that explores the implications of theoretical views for actual cases, reflects on the normative principles embedded in practice, and takes account of the ways in which differences between societies matter. He argues that this sort of contextual approach will show why the conventional liberal understanding of justice as neutrality needs to be supplemented by a conception of justice as evenhandedness and why the conventional conception of citizenship is an intellectual and moral prison from which we can be liberated by an understanding of citizenship that is more open to multiplicity and that grows out of practices we judge to be just and beneficial.

Introduction: Contextual Political Theory, Comparative Perspectives, and Justice as Evenhandedness

Complex Justice, Cultural Difference, and Political Community

Liberalism and Culture

Distinguishing Between Difference and Domination: Reflections on the Relation Between Pluralism and Equality

Cultural Adaptation and the Integration of Immigrants: The Case of Quebec

Muslim Minorities in Liberal Democracies: Justice and the Limits of Toleration

Multiple Political Memberships, Overlapping National Identities, and the Dimensions of Citizenship

Citizenship and the Challenge of Aboriginal Self-Government: Is Deep Diversity Desirable?

Democracy and Respect for Difference: The Case of Fiji

Conclusion