Multicultural Post-Liberalism: A Question of Identity

A significant aspect of post-liberalism is the reality of multiculturalism, or the cultural and religious diversity in contemporary Western European societies. This has provoked new thinking on how this pluralism is to be managed, and how these minorities are to be integrated, accommodated and included. This is especially the case for those groups whose values are seen as in tension with certain liberal secular values. In Britain, multiculturalism has emerged as a theoretical and policy response to this post-liberal dilemma. This article outlines this response and how it overlaps with post-liberal concerns and principles. It focuses in particular on how religion fits into this picture, as an important strand in multiculturalist and post-liberal thought. It is argued that multiculturalism requires new thinking on religion as part of a post-liberal politics, but also that it already possesses resources conducive to this.