Multicultural citizenship: A critique

This article discusses the theory and practice of multicultural citizenship in liberal states. Regarding theory, I point to the shortcomings of both ' radical' and 'liberal' approaches to justify minority rights. Regarding pra ctice, the state-centered notion of multicultural citizenship deflects from the decentered accommodation of multicultural minority claims in functionn ally differentiated societies. It also runs counter to a trend toward de-et hnicization in liberal states, in which the cultural impositions of the maj ority on minority groups are growing thin, thus removing the case for minor ity rights.