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13 - The continuing significance of ethnocultural identity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

Jorge M. Valadez
Affiliation:
Our Lady of the Lake University
Seyla Benhabib
Affiliation:
Yale University, Connecticut
Ian Shapiro
Affiliation:
Yale University, Connecticut
Danilo Petranovich
Affiliation:
Yale University, Connecticut
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Summary

Centrifugal and centripetal forces are simultaneously straining contemporary states. On the one hand, social, political, and economic forces of globalization are giving rise to novel forms of interdependence and overlapping spheres of influence and jurisdictional authority. On the other, local and regional collectivities are making demands for state resources, cultural rights, and the devolution of governing power. Some authors have questioned the normative legitimacy of one of the major political developments challenging contemporary states – namely, the granting of group-specific rights to ethnocultural minorities. In this chapter I examine critically some of the arguments that have been presented against ethnocultural group rights. I contend that ethnocultural group rights, and the conceptions of identity on which they partly depend, will and should continue to be of significance for theories of governance in the global era. My primary argument is that these rights rectify historical and existing injustices that any adequate emerging theory of governance must address. We should not replicate the mistakes of traditional theories of political organization, which neglected the special circumstances and needs of ethnocultural minorities. Moreover, ethnocultural group rights and ethnocultural identity have implications for the way we should conceptualize certain concepts, such as those of political membership and self-determination, which are key components of theories of governance.

In the first section of the chapter I discuss the nature and variety of ethnocultural group rights and the role that ethnocultural identity plays in their normative justification.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2007

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