A new edition of the highly acclaimed book Multiculturalism and "The Politics of
Recognition," this paperback brings together an even wider range of leading phi
losophers and social scientists to probe the political controversy surrounding m
ulticulturalism. Charles Taylor's initial inquiry, which considers whether the i
nstitutions of liberal democratic government make room--or should make room--for
recognizing the worth of distinctive cultural traditions, remains the centerpie
ce of this discussion. It is now joined by Jurgen Habermas's extensive essay on
the issues of recognition and the democratic constitutional state and by K. Anth
ony Appiah's commentary on the tensions between personal and collective identiti
es, such as those shaped by religion, gender, ethnicity, race, and sexuality, an
d on the dangerous tendency of multicultural politics to gloss over such tension
s.
