A Deliberative Approach to Conflicts of Culture

In: Political theory: an international journal of political philosophy, Band 31, Heft 6, S. 780-807

Abstract

How should liberal democratic states respond to cultural practices & arrangements that run afoul of liberal norms & laws? This article argues for a reframing of the challenges posed by traditional or nonliberal cultural minorities. The author suggests that viewed from up close, such dilemmas are revealed to be primarily intracultural rather than intercultural conflicts, & reflect the political & practical interests of factions of communities much more than deep moral differences. Using the example of the reform of customary marriage laws in post-apartheid South Africa, this article makes the case for a more pragmatic, politically focused approach to resolving conflicts of culture that it is argued is both more democratic & effective than alternatives recently advanced by liberals & deliberative democracy theorists. [Copyright 2003 Sage Publications, Inc.]