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‘And People's Concerns Were Genuine: Why Didn't We Listen More?’: Nationalism, Multiculturalism and Recognition in Europe

Ozkirimli, Umut LU (2012) In Journal of Contemporary European Studies 20(4). p.307-321
Abstract
The aim of this article is to draw attention to the dangerous, indeed poisonous, nature of the current debates on immigration and multiculturalism in today’s ‘omniphobic’ Europe, plagued not only by a severe economic crisis, but also a more general normative crisis, a ‘crisis of values’ so to speak, which has been consistently overlooked or manipulated by politicians and academics alike, or reduced to an epiphenomenon bound to disappear when financial balances are restored. I will argue in this context that nationalism (in some cases even outright racism) is key to understanding this crisis, a catalyst acting either as a cause or a symptom, and almost always as a profound source of legitimacy. Following a brief critique of the literature... (More)
The aim of this article is to draw attention to the dangerous, indeed poisonous, nature of the current debates on immigration and multiculturalism in today’s ‘omniphobic’ Europe, plagued not only by a severe economic crisis, but also a more general normative crisis, a ‘crisis of values’ so to speak, which has been consistently overlooked or manipulated by politicians and academics alike, or reduced to an epiphenomenon bound to disappear when financial balances are restored. I will argue in this context that nationalism (in some cases even outright racism) is key to understanding this crisis, a catalyst acting either as a cause or a symptom, and almost always as a profound source of legitimacy. Following a brief critique of the literature on the purported ‘death’ of multiculturalism—the academic side of the same coin—the article concludes by sketching the normative contours of an alternative model of multiculturalism, one that stresses the importance of the ideas of recognition, redistribution and participation. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
multiculturalism, nationalism, pluralism, recognition, Europe
in
Journal of Contemporary European Studies
volume
20
issue
4
pages
307 - 321
publisher
Routledge
external identifiers
  • scopus:84868228706
ISSN
1478-2804
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
ab4817e9-d7e5-44bf-845d-f0a23f3eb95c (old id 3242439)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 11:04:27
date last changed
2023-08-31 17:59:26
@article{ab4817e9-d7e5-44bf-845d-f0a23f3eb95c,
  abstract     = {{The aim of this article is to draw attention to the dangerous, indeed poisonous, nature of the current debates on immigration and multiculturalism in today’s ‘omniphobic’ Europe, plagued not only by a severe economic crisis, but also a more general normative crisis, a ‘crisis of values’ so to speak, which has been consistently overlooked or manipulated by politicians and academics alike, or reduced to an epiphenomenon bound to disappear when financial balances are restored. I will argue in this context that nationalism (in some cases even outright racism) is key to understanding this crisis, a catalyst acting either as a cause or a symptom, and almost always as a profound source of legitimacy. Following a brief critique of the literature on the purported ‘death’ of multiculturalism—the academic side of the same coin—the article concludes by sketching the normative contours of an alternative model of multiculturalism, one that stresses the importance of the ideas of recognition, redistribution and participation.}},
  author       = {{Ozkirimli, Umut}},
  issn         = {{1478-2804}},
  keywords     = {{multiculturalism; nationalism; pluralism; recognition; Europe}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{307--321}},
  publisher    = {{Routledge}},
  series       = {{Journal of Contemporary European Studies}},
  title        = {{‘And People's Concerns Were Genuine: Why Didn't We Listen More?’: Nationalism, Multiculturalism and Recognition in Europe}},
  volume       = {{20}},
  year         = {{2012}},
}