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The Multiculturalism of Fear. By Jacob T. Levy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. 268p. $29.95.
Jeff Spinner-Halev, University of Nebraska
Jacob Levy argues that the multiculturalism of fear is meant to supplement, not displace, the multiculturalism of rights. Running against many recent celebrations of ethnic identity, Levy is wary of the effects that ethnic (which includes national) identity can have. Too often ethnic politics are cruel and conflictual. Levy is skeptical that a world where everyone's ethnic identity is politically recognized can be peaceful and harmonious. Yet neither can we simply wish ethnic identity away. While cultural identities are socially constructed, they are very much part of our world and so they must be dealt with. "The multiculturalism of fear," Levy writes, "does see ethnic communities as morally important and distinctive, not because of what they provide for individuals, but because of what they risk doing to common social and political life" (p. 33).
Ethnic groups are dangerous, yet they are a part of our world. The result is that we should try to minimize the harm they do. A multiculturalism of fear, directly inspired by the late Judith Shklar's liberalism of fear, focuses our attention on the ways in which groups are victims of cruelty and humiliation because of their ethnicity. For example, Levy argues that when India changed the name of Bombay to Mumbai, it was done to reassert the city's Hindu identity in a way that was meant to taunt the city's many non-Hindu residents. A multiculturalism of rights may have little to say about name changes like this, since this change of names did not violate anyone's rights. The multiculturalism of fear, however, is...