infonet-economy

This dissertation takes up a theoretical problem that prejudices justifications of multiculturalism. If we understand multiculturalism as a position holding that cultures are valuable entities that deserve respect and recognition, we must not only show that there indeed are such things as cultures, but also that culture is the right kind of entity to possess value. However, these assumptions have been widely criticized for being unrealistic and naïve. Culture, it has been objected, is too indeterminate a concept to possess value of the sort required by multiculturalism. The present study elucidates the philosophical underpinnings of the challenge of indeterminacy. Drawing on the pragmatism of John Dewey, it then proposes a theoretical framework for thinking about cultural normativity that countenances the indeterminacy of culture. Its central aim is to show that a culture’s hybrid and political character does not disqualify it as a normative category.