Resistance to multiculturalism

No abstractThis study presents some of the problems which emerge when people of different cultures and attitudes towards life live together. It starts with the insistence of Muslim women on attending European schools wearing headscarves, although this is prohibited by the authorities. Firstly, the study deals with the minorities’ claim for recognition of special cultural rights, even if these clash with the laws of European countries and the principles of secular states. The focal point of the issue is the claim for recognition, set forth mainly by representatives of Muslim minorities in European countries and supported by a number of European intellectuals. On the other hand liberal intellectuals and politicians refuse to allow for cultural minorities’ collective rights that contradict the European tradition of human rights. The central idea is that it is very difficult to safeguard one’s right to be different -apart from the limits placed on it by the laws of western societies- when it defies the common way of thinking and the traditions of civil society