Amartya Sen's new book

Amartya Sen discusses his new book, Identity and Violence: The Illusion of Destiny , with Kenan Malik in the August issue of Prospect magazine.

At the heart of the book is an argument against what Sen calls the communitarian view of identity—the belief that identity is something to be "discovered" rather than chosen. ...Sen will have none of it. "There are two issues here," he says when I meet him at King's College, Cambridge, where he was master until returning to Harvard two years ago. "First, the recognition that identities are robustly plural and the importance of one identity need not obliterate another. And second, that a person has to make choices about what relative importance to attach, in a particular context, to their divergent loyalties and identities. The individual belongs to many different groups and it's up to him or her to decide which of those groups he or she would like to give priority to." We are multitudes and we can choose among our multitudes.

Sen is particularly critical of the ways in which communitarian notions of identity have found their way into social policy, especially through the ideas of multiculturalism, and in so doing have diminished the scope for individual freedom. "I am not opposed to multiculturalism," he says. "But I am opposed to the way it has been interpreted. There are two basically distinct approaches to multiculturalism. One concentrates on the promotion of diversity as a value in itself. The other focuses on the freedom of reasoning and decision-making, and celebrates cultural diversity to the extent that it is freely chosen. The way that British authorities have interpreted multiculturalism has very much undermined individual freedom. A British Muslim is not asked to act within the civil society or the political arena but as a Muslim. His British identity has to be mediated by his community."

What policymakers have created in Britain, Sen suggests, is not multiculturalism but "plural monoculturalism," a system in which people are constantly herded into different identity pens. ..."We have a system in which Muslim organisations are in charge of all Muslims, Hindu organisations in charge of all Hindus, Jewish organisations in charge of all Jews and so on." This parcelling out of the nation can only weaken civil society. "In downplaying political and social identities, as opposed to religious identities, the government has weakened civil society precisely when there is a great need to strengthen it."

Multicultural policies, in other words, have allowed mainstream politicians to abandon their responsibilities for engaging directly with Muslim communities. Far from promoting a sense of integration, the policy has encouraged Muslims to see themselves as semi-detached.

Comments

[Denzil Madhavan]

I wish things were easy. If everyone thought of himself or herself as a responsible member of the planet or even the universe, If every human being and institution could foster such an identity, how nice it would have been!

The question we need to ask is 'why do people and the multiple cultures' persist in what they think and do? There must be some force so powerful that holds people under those identities. We cannot wish the situation away. Human beings seem powerless to change. Yet we can shape change in identity in some way and it can make some contribution to change.

[Chanel handbags online]

xyy
I love braids. But I can never make good braids of my hair Chanel handbags online, at which I

feel sad and upset Chanel handbag online. Every time when I failed in making a good braid,

href="http://www.youknowbags.com/chanel-handbags-c-14.html">Chanel handbags sale I will fall into bad spirits, but my favor to braids never weak a little.

href="http://www.youknowbags.com">designer handbags sale. So when I saw this Bottega Veneta Box Clutch in beautiful and smooth braid,

href="http://www.youknowbags.com">handbag sale, though somebody said it is a little simple and plain, I found it is really wonderful. It provides

comfortable feelings to me and cast a spell on me at the first sight.As we know, the collection of Bottega Veneta Box Clutches has many beautiful choices for us

href="http://www.youknowbags.com">authentic handbags. All these clutches combine simplicity, beauty, and usability all at once. The knot on the top is their

icon. Some of them are made from very luxurious materials, such as crocodile leather,designer handbags,thus they have

hefty prices, while other are made from more competitive materials, just like satin, then they have more affordable prices. Though this Bottega Veneta Satin Knot Clutch is made

from satin, it is the same luxurious as croc clutches.replica handbags. As we can see, the sleek lilac satin material

is woven into perfection and is very elegant and stunning.

[nike air max 2009]

xyy

These two colorways of the nike air max 2009 are inspired by

two of the biggest idols LeBron James had as a child. The red pair is inspired by Deion Sanders, while the other pair honors Penny Hardaway. The pair that is inspired after

Penny Hardaway borrows nike air max LTD

href="http://shop.brandsuper.com/nike-air-max-shoes-c-54.html"> the colors from the Orlando Magic. Sorry to give you the bad news, but these will not release.

The Air Max 90 has owned some great colorways in the past. Of all

the great colorways we have examined on the nike air max shoes, my favorite has to be

the Nike Air Max LeBron VII “All Star”. However, here we have two brand new colorways that could be some of the best we have seen. Nike is bringing back some of the true

running classics this year. One of those legendary runners is the Air Max

360, which will release in the OG colorway. Nothing is better than a original. These surfaced last year, and the first look made Air Max heads go crazy of a

possible release.

[travesti]

istanbul hotel Canada hotelles This article is very beautiful, I really get very beyendım text files manually to your health as you travesti very beautiful and I wish you continued success with all respect ..

Thanks for helpful information travesti siteleri you catch up us with your sagol instructional çok explanation.
en iyi travestiler en guzel travesti

travesti
travesti forum
istanbul travestileri
ankara travestileri
izmir travestileri
travestiler
trv
travesti siteleri
travesti video
travesti sex
travesti porno
travesti
travesti
travesti
travestiler
travesti
travestiler
sohbet
travesti
chat
organik
güncel blog
sohbet
turkce mirc
sesli chat
okey