LIBERALISM AND COMMUNITARIANISM - A RESPONSE TO 2 RECENT ATTEMPTS TO RECONCILE INDIVIDUAL AUTONOMY WITH GROUP IDENTITY

This article is concerned with recent attempts to balance the claims f or political citizenship in a liberal democracy (liberalism) with comp eting claims for cultural identity within traditional non-liberal comm unities (communitarianism). Claims of the first Kind are usually seen as universal in that they are based on what it is to be human, while c laims of the second kind are seen as particular in so far as they rela te to membership of a specific culture. Singh (1997) argues for discus sion method as a means of reconciling the claims of democratic citizen ship with those of cultural attachment in non-liberal communities. In an earlier and related paper, Singh (1995) also seeks an accommodation between shared and particular values in a multicultural society. Hals tead (1997) is concerned about the dilemmas faced by liberal educators and by Muslims with regard to the sex education curriculum and Muslim pupils. In an earlier paper, Halstead (1995) makes proposals for a cu rriculum which combines a communitarian commitment to the cultural int egrity of non-liberal communities with active participation in the lif e of a liberal democracy. I will argue that whether we begin from a li beral commitment to individual autonomy (Singh) or from a concern for the cultural integrity and survival of non-liberal communities (Halste ad), there are very real difficulties in achieving a reconciliation be tween liberal and communitarian perspectives.