Spatial Segregation and the Impact of Linguistic Multicultural Policies Within the USA

In this article, we examine the impact of multicultural linguistic policy on the residential outcomes of Hispanic and Asian groups in the USA. Arguments linking multiculturalism to residential segregation outcomes are a hotly contested political issue. While spatial segregation is one form of social integration for immigrants, scholars are particularly concerned with residential outcomes because it is theorized to strongly facilitate a wide variety of other forms of integration including language acquisition, the convergence of socio-cultural gender and sexual norms, employment, friendship ties, and intermarriage. From data drawn from the 2010 U.S. Census, we calculate the dissimilarity index for these two groups. We find multicultural linguistic policies increase segregation levels between Asians and non-Hispanic whites, but not between Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites. The results are robust to a host of alternative explanations and model specifications. However, the estimated positive effect of linguistic policy is modest at best and run contrary to fears that multiculturalist policies drastically alter residential outcomes. We close by questioning normative accounts that problematize rising levels of segregation within ethnic communities, which are a far cry from the minority ghettos that are politically portrayed.     

Banal is not Trivial: Visibility,Recognition, and Inequalities between Religious Groups in Prison

Recognizing religious groups is not only a question of granting rights, but also a question of the possibility of being perceived as unproblematic, especially in contexts where religion is a contested issue. Spain is a compelling case to examine this proposition. There, the rise of migration-driven religious diversity and the attacks of 11 March 2004 have led religious minorities into the sensitive terrain of ‘supra-visibility’. Drawing upon research conducted in prisons, we show that, in this situation, being classified as a ‘religion’ becomes more a cause for alarm than a sign of normalcy. The most powerful actors in the field have actively distanced themselves from the category of ‘religion’, either because they are presented as spiritual therapies or because they are embedded in cultural traditions—the banal Catholicism that prevails in many southern European settings. Overall, religious inequalities are not only related to the recognition of rights, but also to the (in)visibility of some social and cultural forms over others.     

Past Wrongs and Liberal Justice

Liberal theories of justice have often been unable to include the recognition of minority rights or of multiculturalism because of their emphasis on individuals. In contrast, recent theories of cultural recognition and minority rights have underestimated the tensions between group and individual rights. It is precisely the incorporation of past wrongs and their impact on present politics that can advance the liberal theory of justice for cultural minorities and their members.     

Cities and Immigration: A Reply

In my book, Cities and Immigration, I suggest shifting responsibilities for the integration of immigrants from the state to the city level. The articles in this issue challenge some of my suggestions. I discuss these challenges with regard to three questions: should a city enjoy greater autonomy to decide who, and how many, immigrants should settle within its borders? Should immigrants enjoy local voting rights even before naturalization? And is there a morally preferable model for integrating immigrants into the city?     

Creating a Space for Spiritual Practice: Pastoral Possibilities with Sexual Minorities

Is a religious gay person an oxymoron? It appears possible, given that the research on religion and spirituality among sexual minority individuals is so limited. While books written on the intersection of religion and psychotherapy may include a chapter addressing the religious and spiritual lives of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals, there are no critical texts focusing solely on this issue. In this paper, we review some of the most recent research on homosexuality, religion, and spirituality, and discuss how LGB individuals may integrate these two identities. A case presentation is offered and implications for pastoral counselors and methods of supporting the integration of the spiritual/religious identity in tandem with a LGB identity are also discussed.     

THE RECOGNITION OF RIGHTS IN EVERYDAY LIFE

Gewirth has argued that rights are justified by their role in the “generic features” of action. Simply by virtue of being a purposive agent capable of voluntary action, one must accept the logic that all persons with such characteristics have certain moral rights. But the language of rights theories does not deal with the process by which rights are acknowledged. How do we go about recognizing those characteristics of human life that underlie the logic Gewirth claims is necessary? By what process do I recognize, for example, your “right” to be told the truth? Acknowledging someone else's right involves two elements: a recognition of the content of the right and a recognition of the binding power of the right which is experienced by the agent as a sense of obligation. Analyzing the process by which these two factors are recognized and examining the foundation for that process will clarify some of the assumptions utilized in rights theories.     

La représentation des groupes ethnoculturels dans la région montréalaise: vers une participation politique accrue?

This article analyzes the issue of the representation of ethnic minority groups and women in 11 city councils located in the Montreal metropolitan area. The first part sets out the major debates concerning the representation of groups that have traditionally not been very present in the political process. The second segment considers the representation of ethnic minority groups and women in city councils located in the Montreal region according to a quantitative perspective. Methodological precautions and analysis of the results bring to an end the second part. In conclusion, this article puts forward some discussions about the possible means or ways to increase the representation of ethnic groups, particularly visible minority groups, and favour their political integration.     

Rethinking citizenship rights of non‐Muslims in an Islamic state: Rashid al‐Ghannūshi's contribution to the evolving debate

Of interest to Islamists of the twentieth century has been the question of minority rights in an Islamic state and of how non‐Muslim minorities should be treated: in particular, should they enjoy equal citizenship rights and responsibilities with Muslims? Traditional Islamic law did not accord equal rights to non‐Muslim protected minorities (ahl al‐dhimma), placing Muslims above them in several key areas. Notwithstanding the law, however, early Muslim rulers exercised some pragmatic discretion according to the imperatives of their day. With the Islamic revival of the twentieth century, the traditional view has been adopted by several Muslim thinkers and leaders, though the traditional view is at odds with the concept of the nation‐state. The nation‐state is built on a secular premise, with no single religious group favoured over another. Within this context, a number of Muslim thinkers have attempted to reinterpret the traditionally held view of ‘citizenship rights’. This article will focus on the contribution of one such thinker, the Tunisian Islamist Rashid al‐Ghannūshi, who espouses somewhat ‘liberal’ views on the issue and argues for rethinking on a number of related aspects. Commencing with some background to the problem, the article explores the issue of citizenship rights as espoused by Ghannūshi, and notes the key importance of the concept of justice as their basis, in his view. Specific rights examined are: freedom of belief, including for Muslims who wish to change their religion; the holding of public office by non‐Muslims; equal treatment for Muslims and non‐Muslims in terms of fiscal duties and benefits. Throughout his arguments, Ghannūshi emphasizes justice as central to the issue, and as the basis of interpreting and developing related rules and laws. Although Ghannūshi's views are not entirely new, he goes well beyond what has been acceptable in Islamic law, and his contribution should be considered important in the efforts at rethinking Islamic law in this area.     

When “Inclusion” Means “Exclusion”: Discourses on the Eviction and Repatriations of Roma Migrants,at National and European Union Level

The paper examines the ways and processes of creating exceptions to the enforcement of human rights law in the case of the Eastern European Roma migrants within the European Union. It uses as case study the 2010 campaign of Roma migrants’ evictions and repatriations from France, and the related events that followed over a period of six years. The analysis of the discourses of French and European Union officials in relation to the evictions and repatriations highlights the relationships between the discursive construction of unwanted categories of migrants, and migration policy making by national governments and at a European Union level. The main argument is that these evictions and repatriations were primarily a fundamental rights issue due to the discriminatory dimension it was given by those proposing and applying it. However, the issue of discrimination became secondary in the debates which rather focused on the exceptional nature of the Roma and framed this population as an exception from human rights law enforcement. Concomitantly, the discourses made a shift from protection against discrimination to the issue of integration. The analysis examines the implications this shift had on diminishing the responsibility of national and EU authorities for protection against discrimination.     

Shīʿa neo-traditionalist scholars and theology of homosexuality: review and reflections on Mohsen Kadivar’s shifting approach

This article explores how Shī?a neo-traditionalist scholars have formed views on the issue of homosexuality by applying Shī?a Islamic version of ijtihād. This theme will be investigated with reference to Dr Shaykh Mohsen Kadivar’s shifting approaches on homosexuality. In response to questions he received from 2006 to 2014 from Shī?a grassroots Muslims, Kadivar passed through three stages in his view of the issue of same-sex relationships moving from a harshly punitive to a merely tolerant and finally a more moderate position, albeit one that did not incorporate human rights. This article explores how Kadivar began by upholding an Islamic traditionalist homophobic view towards homosexuality in which same-sex relationships are perceived as a threat to Muslim societies so are, therefore, prohibited (?arām) and must be severely punished. Equally, it also explores how Kadivar developed a more tolerant perspective, by rejecting the traditional punishments of homosexuality, and then advocated a moderate view, by conceding that homosexual Muslims should have general civil rights. Although Kadivar is still reluctant to accept homosexual individuals as being permitted to fulfil their sexual desires and needs as their basic human rights, this article argues that a deeper reading of Kadivar’s scholarship demonstrates that his theological repertoire is extensive enough to have the capacity to permit practicing homosexuality in Islam. Kadivar seems to be sufficiently self-aware to recognize this capacity which initiated to develop and progress his Islamic approach on this issue since a decade ago, albeit slowly.     

One nation under God? Yusuf al-Qaradawi’s changing Fiqh of citizenship in the light of the Islamic legal tradition

In the wake of the Arab Revolutions of 2011, countries in the Middle East are grappling with how Islamists might be included within a regime of democratic political pluralism and how their aspirations for an “Islamic state” could affect the citizenship status of non-Muslims. While Islamic jurisprudence on this issue has traditionally classified non-Muslims in Islamic society as protected peoples or dhimma, endowed with what the authors term “minority citizenship”, this article will examine how the transnational intellectual Wasa?iyya or Centrist movement, of which Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi is the figurehead, have sought to develop a new fiqh of citizenship in which Muslims and non-Muslims have equal civil and political rights. This article will focus on Yusuf al-Qaradawi on the basis that his very recent shift in 2010 on the issue is yet to be studied in depth, as well as in view of the fact that the dilemma faced by reformist Islamic scholars—how to integrate modern concepts into a legal tradition while simultaneously arguing for that tradition’s continuing relevance and authority—is for him rendered particularly acute, given that this tradition is itself the very source of his own authority and relevance. It will therefore be argued that the legacy of the Islamic legal tradition structures his discourse in a very specific way, thereby having the potential to render it more persuasive to his audience, and worthy of a more detailed examination.     

The Social Context of Clinical Practice With Sexual Minority Clients: Commentary on the Special Issue

Clinical research with sexual minority clients has evolved and has contributed to recognition and affirmation of sexual minorities. This commentary traces a history of research that was at one time based on heteronormative biases, what we refer to as a “first wave” to a movement through a “second wave” of research comparing sexual minorities to heterosexual counterparts in order to adapt existing clinical practices and advocate for them in the context of political challenges and social opposition. We look at the articles in this special issue as exemplary of what may be considered the “third wave” of this research that begins with the assumption that sexual minority populations are unique and valued subcultures and proposes best practices with these populations.     

Asians as the model minority: Implications for US Government's policies

Asian Americans are often perceived as a 'model minority'– an ethnic minority that are high achieving, hardworking, self-reliant, law-abiding, as well as having few social and mental health problems. Although the impact of the model minority image on the US government's redistributive policies is a widely contested topic in public discourses, there has been little research on the association between the model minority image, people's worldviews, and attitudes towards the US government's redistributive policies. In an experiment that measured American participants' worldviews and manipulated the salience of the model minority image, we have demonstrated that those who believed in a malleable social reality were relatively unsupportive of government policies that help the Asian American ( vs African American) communities. Theoretical and practical implications of this finding are discussed.     

One or Many? Commentary on Paper by Debra Rothschild

This discussion of Rothschild's case history of a multiple personality disorder (MPD) treatment situates the issue of integration versus multiple self states in terms of cultural values, psychoanalytic theory, and transference–countertransference experience of MPD patients and therapists. Views from autobiographies of multiple personalities are included, and some questions are raised about the relationship of “parts” to traumatic experience: When, and for whom, is integration a treatment goal? When is dissociation a characterological defense, and when do the parts each hold separate traumatic knowledge? How does this question bear on treatment—what gets integrated, the knowledge or the parts? Are termination and integration simultaneous? A recommendation is offered for a wider, more complex view of narrative and historicity in the understanding of narrative reconstruction. A concrete focus on veridicality can be a defense against the overwhelming nature of traumatic experience. A final view is offered which positions the author as more distant from integration as a goal than is Rothschild.     

Three Meanings of Equality: The ‘Arab Problem’ in Israel

If justice means equal participation and inclusion, as authors such as Axel Honneth or Nancy Fraser have argued, the question still remains: inclusion in what, and of whom? This question has not been investigated with sufficient attention. Drawing on the example of the experience of Palestinians and Israeli Arabs, I address this issue by distinguishing different meanings of equality which correspond to different types of political struggles. In so doing, I re-examine Honneth’s claim that the critical theory of recognition has no room for cultural groups as referents of a potential ‘fourth principle of recognition’ beyond legal equality, the merit principle, and love. It is argued that Honneth’s critique of collective rights neglects crucial differences between the types of groups that exist in modern states, and between the different kinds of struggles for equality waged by those groups.     

Paradoxical effects of categorization in minority influence: When being an outgroup is an advantage

In a 2 × 2 factorial design, 165 high school girls gave their opinions about abortion (direct influence) and about contraception (indirect ifluence) after reading a message advocating abortion said to have been written by either an ingroup (same sex) or an outgroup (opposite sex) minority and explicitly opposed by the majority opinion of either the ingroup or the outgroup. Results show that there is less direct influence when the ingroup majority is opposed to the minority, and more direct influence when the process of identification is less involved. Indirect influence appears in an intergroup context where categorization of majority and minority into different groups is superimposed on their ideological dissent, which has the effect of allowing recognition of the minority's distinctiveness and validity over and above the discrimination that appears at the direct influence level. In discussing the results, a theoretical integration of social comparison and validation processes is proposed as a step towards explaining the diversity of minority influence phenomena.     

熟悉性对被试操作效应的作用:来自无线索回忆再认的证据

在动作事件的再认记忆中,被试操作后的记忆成绩优于单纯的词语记忆(SPT效应)。人们认为操作促进了回想加工,而熟悉性是否对SPT效应起作用仍然存在分歧。研究采用无线索回忆再认范式,考察了信息提取失败时熟悉性对SPT效应的作用。结果显示:(1)SPT和VT两种编码都引发了稳定的无线索回忆再认效应(RWCR效应)。(2)与VT编码相比,SPT编码引发更强的熟悉性加工,表现出无线索回忆再认的记忆优势。上述结果表明,即使无法正确提取细节信息,在SPT编码中被试凭借熟悉性辨认的能力仍然高于VT编码。该结果从信息提取失败的视角为熟悉性对SPT效应的作用提供了更为直接的证据。     

文化智力对少数民族预科生主观幸福感的影响:双文化认同整合和文化适应压力的链式中介作用

为考察双文化认同整合、文化适应压力在文化智力与主观幸福感关系中的链式中介作用。采用文化智力量表、双文化认同整合量表、文化适应压力量表和幸福感指数量表对799名少数民族预科生进行调查。研究显示:(1)双文化认同整合是文化智力与少数民族预科生主观幸福感之间的中介变量;(2)文化适应压力是双文化认同整合与少数民族预科生主观幸福感之间的中介变量。因此,双文化认同整合和文化适应压力在文化智力与少数民族预科生主观幸福感之间起链式中介作用,这表明双文化认同整合和文化适应压力是影响文化智力与少数民族预科生主观幸福感之间关系的重要内因,研究结论对提高少数民族预科生主观幸福感具有重要的价值。     

Permitting dishonour: culture,gender and freedom of expression

While the right to freedom of expression is of great importance in liberal societies, liberal governments should be wary of speech that disparages minority groups. This issue is particularly problematic when minority women publicly criticise gender oppression within their communities. By focusing on the controversy over the play Behzti in 2004, this article explores the difficulties involved in protecting individual women’s rights to criticise injustice, when doing so risks perpetuating negative stereotypes in society at large. If liberal polities wish to preserve an ethos in society that enables minority women to speak out about their experience of oppression, then there is sometimes a case for restricting the right to free speech in these cases. By comparing Behzti with two other works, the article proposes a three-part test to indicate when liberals should seriously consider informal restrictions on free speech when this problem arises. Versions of this chapter were presented at Keele, Strathclyde and York Universities in 2005. I would like to thank the audiences for their valuable feedback. Thanks are also due to Paul Bou-Habib for written comments.     

Biobank research and the right to privacy

What is privacy? What does privacy mean in relation to biobanking, in what way do the participants have an interest in privacy, (why) is there a right to privacy, and how should the privacy issue be regulated when it comes to biobank research? A relational view of privacy is argued for in this article, which takes as its basis a general discussion of several concepts of privacy and attempts at grounding privacy rights. In promoting and protecting the rights that participants in biobank research might have to privacy, it is argued that their interests should be related to the specific context of the provision and reception of health care that participation in biobank research is connected with. Rather than just granting participants an exclusive right to or ownership of their health information, which must be waived in order to make biobank research possible, the privacy aspect of health information should be viewed in light of the moral rights and duties that accompany any involvement in a research based system of health services.