The Ethics of Ethnicity and Nationalism

1. The Ethics of Ethnicity and Nationalism Citizenship, Immigration, Multiculturalism and National Identity

2. Ethics • About political philosophy (known as normative political theory or just 'political theory') • Key questions: • What is the "good" or "good life"? • Given the "good", what is the "right" course of action?

3. Ethics… • The Good: what is the ultimate end(s) we wish to maximise? • The Right: what is the best way for us (or any other agent, such as the state) to act to achieve our ends? [i.e. what is rational] • Note that 'one cannot argue about taste': one end cannot be more rational than another!

4. Liberals and Egalitarians • Most of the debate comes from liberals or egalitarians • Tradition in western political theory from the ancient Greeks through Aquinas, Spinosa, Locke, Rousseau, Marx, Nietzsche, Existentialists to Rawls. Backed by Protestant reformation and secularisation • Emphasis on the autonomy of the individual and the equality of individuals • Secular reason is the mode preferred by most, though there are some irrationalists like Nietzsche

5. Liberals and Egalitarians… • Classical Liberals believe in individual autonomy as the Good, and liberalism as the Right • Socialists believe in economic equality as the Good, socialism as the Right. Note that economic equality of result can conflict with equality of opportunity; economic equality can conflict with political equality and cultural equality • Many are Rawlsian Liberals: they believe in various kinds of equality and also in autonomy, and seek to trade off a degree of both • Those who believe in universalism are referred to as 'cosmopolitans' in the literature

6. The Communitarian Challenge • Starting point is Rawls' Theory of Justice (1971) • Idea of 'archimedean point': a universal perspective on ethics free of particularity of place and time • Communitarians critique it from mid-70s: Alasdair MacIntyre, Michael Sandel, Charles Taylor and Michael Walzer • Charge that ethics must be implemented in the concrete social reality of this world, not an abstract one

7. Deeper Questions Posed by Communitarians • Must autonomy and equality be the only goals? • Can we really construct our authentic selves by inward reflection ('I think therefore I am' or Sartre's café existentialism) or are not we not in some way the product of our upbringing and social interactions? • Is western liberalism really a universal creed that all cultures should come to adopt?

8. Where Does Nationalism Fit in? • Communitarian ends are culturally particular: family, locale, ethnic group, nation, religion • Clearly, like religion, nations and ethnic groups are not just means of organising people, but 'ends in themselves'

9. Communitarian Arguments for Ethnicity/Nation • Pluralism argument (world better and more interesting if it contains diverse cultures) • Intrinsic value argument (given culture has a particular value that should be promoted) • Flourishing argument (people need to belong to a group larger than family, and flourish when they do)

10. Liberalism and Community • So now we have ethnie and nation alongside autonomy and equality as the Good. How to balance these goals?

11. Kymlicka and Taylor's Critique • Liberalism, Community and Culture (1989), followed by a number of works in 1990s • Taylor's Multiculturalism and the Politics of Recognition (1994) • Inspired partly by 'multicultural' movement of minorities for 'recognition' vis a vis majority culture in Canada • Canadian multiculturalism policy dates from 1971, similar demands in US since late 60s

12. Kymlicka and Taylor's Critique… • Rawlsian view of the 'abstract' individual suggests: • that ethnic minorities should assimilate into universalist liberal culture of the state since autonomy and equality are the proper goals of life; OR • Should keep their ethnicity, national demands and religion private and act as individuals in the state sphere

13. Kymlicka and Taylor's Critique… • Kymlicka: all states in fact have an official language and culture which 'recognises' the majority culture • Thus there are no 'neutral' or 'abstract' states or societies • Thus to tell minorities to just be equal individuals is not quite fair since their culture does not get equal bidding • So you can't separate public and private • You need 'collective rights' to protect minorities as groups (which is actually about protecting part of their individuality)

14. Kymlicka & Taylor's Optimism • Kymlicka argues that actually ethnic identity strengthens liberalism! • Why?: Growing up in a particular culture offers you a 'context for choice' • More cultures = more choices for autonomous individuals • Taylor: we form our identities in 'dialogue' with others, not through introspection. Our identities are constituted by our social relations • Kymlicka: cultural identity (or context) needs to be secure since our identity is constituted by our cultural and social relations

15. Other Liberal or Egalitarian Arguments for Ethnicity • Self-determination right (morally desirable for individuals to form self-governing associations with others of their choosing) • Pluralism brings political/cultural equality by weakening dominant power/dominant ethnic group • Reparations argument (righting old wrongs brings cultural equality)

16. Liberal Nationalism • Abstract state of Rawls • Jurgen Habermas suggests a 'constitutional patriotism' • Viroli argues for a more romantic republican 'patriotism' based on state institutions • Yael Tamir (1993) and David Miller (1995) argue that this is too 'thin' to be meaningful • Liberal Nationalism is fair, feasible, desirable

17. Liberal Nationalism • Basic Individual Rights should trump nations, but nations have value to people • People can have minority ethnic attachments, but still be part of a deep cultural nation • History, language, public culture, political membership, common values (typically toleration or western liberalism) • Need to have something more than bare set of rules, need 'glue' to hold state together, to support public trust and projects like the welfare state • Minorities should acquiesce in public values, though they can maintain their own identities • Nations should be inclusive, schooling should be public, illiberalism not to be tolerated (French Republican model held up by Miller)

18. Key Issues • Consociationalism or Unitary State? • Common or parallel institutions? • Common or separate values? • State unity or separate land claims? • Intermarriage or Separation of Groups? • Melting Pot or Salad Bowl? • Assimilation or Communal boundaries? • National Identity: Fixed or 'Multiply-constituted' and changing • Universal Merit in hiring or Affirmative Action? • Immigration: 'Colour-blind' or promoting diversity?

19. The Backlash Against Communitarianism • Universalist liberal-egalitarians like Rawls acknowledged communitarians' point • One could argue that this was partly because liberalism needed to be sensitive to the 60s 'cultural turn' in the Left and minority ethnic claims • Brian Barry, in Culture & Equality, argues that nationalism and ethnicity are reactionary and we need to get back to liberal basics of individual autonomy and equality. These are universal while communitarianism is relativistic and sanctions the caste system (ie Walzer), clitoridectomy (ie Tamir) and other illiberal outrages • 'Will Kymlicka is a romantic nationalist' – Brian Barry

20. Cosmopolitanism • Jeremy Waldron, Charles Jones or Martha Nussbaum argue for cosmopolitanism: universal obligations to our fellow humans and universal ethics • Communitarians answer back that universalist liberalism can be culturally imperialistic (ie US foreign policy) • Communitarians argue that – given the reality of human ties and human nature - the only realistic option for democracy and welfare redistribution is the nation or ethnic group. Who would pay tax to the world's welfare system?

21. Political Events Impact on Theory • Clearly political developments impinge on the 'pure' domain of political theory • Minority agitation and New Left student revolts from the late 60s spawned liberal multiculturalist theory • End of Cold War and declining fortunes of multicultural policy in the USA gave a boost to universalist liberals like Fukuyama and Barry • Failure of US liberal project tarnishes liberal universalism

22. Conclusion • Autonomy/Equality vs Community as the Good to which we should strive • Does self-actualisation come from individual acts or social ties? • Is nationalism compatible with liberty and equality? • Does liberal nationalism violate ethnic 'collective rights'? • Is the cosmopolitan alternative realistic given human nature, and is it right, given people's communal ties?