A Review of Will Kymlicka's Multiculturalism (to be continued)

Will Kymlicka is one of the most prominent political theorist in multiculturalism, whose works I have just gone through during the last semester. The starting point of his theory of multiculturalism is minority rights, which he defends from liberalism viewpoint. Since his theory is based on the context of western liberal democracy countries especially Canada, I think his theory is not applicable to Malaysia. Yet, some analytical perspectives of his theory might shed some light on Malaysia's ethnic problems.

We need to start with the concept of liberalism. The core of liberalism is individualism and its principles are freedom and equality. This statement has two implications: 1) the unit for moral judgement is and can only be individual; 2) the criterion for moral judgement is that if a certain action (behaviour, policy etc.) is beneficial or detrimental to freedom and equality of an individual. Though different theorist has different interpretations about freedom and equality, such rough understanding should serve our purpose to understand Kymlicka's theory.

Kymlicka argues that the concept of group right does not only compatible with individual freedom; it actually promotes it.