Thoughts on multicultural dialogue

develop a political theory of multiculturalism from the ground up than a contribution to a conversation which has been going on for some time, even centuries, to reflect on and evaluate positions that have been taken so far. Parekh offers much that is fresh and original both in his critical review of political philosophers on cultural pluralism, and in his account of culture, human value, and the meaning of justice and equality in a multicultural society. He is less disposed than many philosophers, however, to clear the table of inadequate positions in order to replace them with his own. Instead, he sifts through the previous discussion to find what wisdom there is, and builds on it. In this respect as well as others, Parekh’s style and tone exemplifies the dialogic attitude whose importance he also theorizes sub-stantively in the book. It would be tedious to try to summarize all the important points Parekh makes, and the breadth of issues he treats makes the task too difficult in any case. In the short space I have I will focus on how Parekh understands th