Chapter 12

The demands of numerous groups for greater inclusion in society and the political process have raised a host of new policy issues over the last fifty years. These groups include ethnic, racial, and religious groups, as well as groups demanding changes to policies toward gender and sexual orientation. All of this has raised fundamental questions about equal citizenship and how to reconcile clashing moral values.

Identity-based groups generally desire some combination of recognition, autonomy, representation, participation, and improved social status. Their demands raise questions about what equal citizenship should really look like. Few people or governments question the legitimacy of equal treatment of all citizens regardless of ethnic or racial identity, but doing the same for women, homosexuals, or transgender individuals often conflicts with deeply held religious beliefs or long-standing cultural practices.

In recent years numerous political philosophers have developed arguments centered on which policies of inclusion should be pursued and why. At the heart of these debates is the question of individual versus group rights. Some normative theorists argue for multicultural integration—the preservation of distinct cultures and even autonomy—while others favor inclusion, whereby participation is encouraged through the reform of representative institutions to facilitate deliberative democracy. Classic liberal democrats counter-argue that individual rights and the equal treatment of all citizens should be the main goals of the state and all that is needed to preserve equal citizenship.

This chapter considers the different approaches states have taken toward secularism and the role of religion in public life, as well as the challenges each of these approaches has incurred. While the neutral state model, exemplified by the United States, expects the state to act impartially towards religious groups, laïcité, as practiced in such countries as Mexico and France, provides no role for religion in the public sphere. States that practice positive accommodation are neutral among religions, but are willing to support religions viewed as critical to the functioning of civil society.

The chapter also looks at women’s struggle for equal social status, representation, and participation, and the way in which women’s movements have challenged ideas of what is public and what is private, with case studies of gender equality in Russia an Iran. Lastly, the chapter examines the gay rights movement and its efforts at recognition as well as legislative change, introducing cases of the United States and Brazil.

Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter, you should understand:

1. The various goals minority groups seek out in social and political spheres.
    
2. Different ways in which various groups seek social and political inclusion.
    
3. How states react to such demands from minority groups.