1. Liberal theory of Minority Rights, Myth on Neutrality of the State and Ethnocultural Justice - CONT. Selma Muhić-Dizdarević, MA

2. Definitions of the state Weber: monopoly on use of legal force Gellner: monopoly on education

3. Arguments against ethnocultural neutrality of the state Education Legal system Diffusion of language Relation to different ethnical/ethical questions: slavery, polygamy, polyandry, incest, euthanasia, suicide, capital punishment, abortion, coerced marriages, divorce on demand, gay and lesbian marriages, etc.

4. Criteria for differentiation between liberal and illiberal nation-building states (Kymlicka) 1.Degree of coercion in promoting national identity 2.Diminished concept of public space, expanded concept of private space 3.Minorities can express publicly their requests 4.Inclusiveness 5.Thinner concept of national identity 6. National identity is not the ultimate value 7. More cosmopolitan 8. An individual can have more national identities 9. Willing to share social space with minorities, who consider important to be recognized in such a way

5. Definition of societal culture (Kymlicka) It is the concept of culture, which includes common language and political institutions, and does not relate to religious beliefs, family customs or individual habits

6. Three models according to public/private difference (Parekh) 1.Procedural assimilationism (minimal state) 2.Civic assimilationism (Verfassungspatriotismus) 3.Millet model (loyalty to primarily to the cultural groups)

7. Types of society (Rex) Type of societyPublic domainPrivate domain MulticulturalismUnitaryDiverse AssimilationismUnitary Colonialism, apartheid Diverse Racist society in the pre-civil rights period DiverseUnitary

8. Belonging to a group Subjective path: taking as relevant how an individual sees her/his belonging Objective path: after satisfying certain stated demands, an individual will be considered to be a member of a group

9. Issues that challenge state sovereignty 1.Fiscal responsibility (i.e. economic issues) 2.International stability (i.e. security) 3.Human rights agenda

10. Different minority groups, different claims and expectations National minorities Indigenous people Immigrants Refugees Guestworkers Descendants of slaves Roma Religious groups Autonomy Fair terms of integration Inclusion Affirmative action Difficult cases

11. Liberal position Dworkin: substantial and procedural rights Rawls: individual autonomy supplemented by non-discrimination provisions should always carry more importance than collective rights

12. Communitarian position Decision-making on the concept of good life is in the individual's competence, but environment in which the competence is applied is not Extra-individual predeterminations, like culture

13. Five Regimes of Toleration (M. Walzer, On Toleration) Multinational Empires International Society Consociations Nation-state Immigrant Society

14. Questions: Does the importance of culture for an individual mean that the culture should be state sponsored and protected? Does that take away it's vitality and reduces it to endangered species? Habermas – Taylor – Walzer debate

15. Ethnocultural justice (Kymlicka) Two main ideas: Minorities are also entitled to various degrees of nation-building Minority rights are a supplement not a substitute for human rights

16. Two types of rights minorities can claim (Kymlicka again) Internal restrictions, i.e. rights of a group against its own members External protection, i.e. rights of a group against the larger society

17. Conclusion Ethnocultural neutrality is a myth in the sense that believing in it narrows the space for non-dominant cultures to participate in division of social space, but it does not imply that society can become culturally neutral, once this awareness is achieved. Gaining the awareness though does open the possibility to manage different cultural interests in a way similar to managing different interests, which are not of the cultural origin (e.g. sexual or financial). This again in my opinion requires constant spelling out of the “ground rules” of the changing society.