Can intra-group equality co-exist with cultural diversity? Re-examining multicultural frameworks of accommodation

Mahajan, Gurpreet

doi:10.1017/cbo9780511490224.005

Cited by 21 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 168 publications

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“…12. For the problem of accommodating intra-group equality while promoting cultural diversity in India, see Mahajan (2005). 13.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Secularism in Crisis

Nath

2016

Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses

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In academic writings on multiculturalism in India the “ Shah Bano controversy” (1985–1986) has been a much cited example of the incompatibility between gender equality and cultural diversity. As a response to the Supreme Court’s Shah Bano verdict in 1985, the then Congress-led Indian government introduced the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986. In this article, I analyze the parliamentary debates on the aforementioned Act in order to examine the dominant normative vocabulary of the Indian state in debating the issue of religious freedom versus demands for democratic citizenship rights. Such an exercise sheds light on how the Indian state has reconciled group-differentiated rights – the legal recognition of Muslim Personal Law in this case – with the liberal democratic principles enshrined in the Constitution of India. The analysis of the parliamentary debates on the Muslim Women’s Bill shows, firstly, that when purportedly incommensurable demands of gender-justice and religious freedom come to an elected deliberative forum, it is not necessary that such demands are resolved through “consensus” or through “negotiation and compromise,” as has been argued by multicultural theorists. Secondly, the analysis of the parliamentary debates also demonstrates that while the proponents of the Bill prioritized group rights at the expense of individual rights, the opponents neglected the concern that vulnerable minority groups should be accorded differential treatment. I thus contend that both the proponents and the opponents of the Muslim Women’s Bill in the Parliament argued in terms of formal equality and lacked arguments based on substantive equality. Finally, I argue that although the Congress government prioritized group rights in the parliamentary debates, it did not give up the ideal of a common civil code, such that the government left the question of accommodating gender-equality concerns unresolved. It was thus left to the judiciary to determine whether to further entrench legal pluralism in the family law of India.

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“…12. For the problem of accommodating intra-group equality while promoting cultural diversity in India, see Mahajan (2005). 13.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Secularism in Crisis

Nath

2016

Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses

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“…17 There is also no guarantee that women from communities occupying a marginalized status in relation to the wider society will be accorded respect and dignity in the world they are being asked to enter. 18 Finally, on a political note, the right of exit is seen as an individual response to discrimination; it does little to address its causes, leaving discriminatory practices intact. 19 Consequently, feminists have focused on strengthening women's voice and influence within their communities as part of a broader approach to transforming power relations.…”

Section: B Exit Voice and Loyalty: A Conceptual Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Group Rights, Gender Justice, and Women’s Self-Help Groups: Exit, Voice, and Loyalty in an Indigenous Community in India

Kabeer,

Narain,

Arora

et al. 2023

Soc Phil Pol

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This essay addresses tensions within political philosophy between group rights, which allow historically marginalized communities some self-governance in determining its own rules and norms, and the rights of marginalized subgroups, such as women, within these communities. Community norms frequently uphold patriarchal structures that define women as inferior to men, assign them a subordinate status within the community, and cut them off from the individual rights enjoyed by women in other sections of society. As feminists point out, the capacity for voice and exit cannot be taken for granted, for community norms may be organized in ways that deny women any voice in its decision-making forums as well as the resources they would need to survive outside the community. This essay draws on research among the Gond, an indigenous community in India, to explore this debate. Given the strength of the forces within the community militating against women’s capacity for voice or exit, the question motivating our research is: Can external organizations make a difference? We explore the impacts of two external development organizations that sought to work with women within these communities in order to answer this question.

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“…If the women's movement has used Article 44 of the Constitution to seek equality for women, minority religious communities have used the commitment to diversity to defend their autonomy. Invoking shared public norms and guaranteed basic rights has not assisted the struggle of women within each community for equal treatment in any way" [7]. More importantly, the identification of uniform civil codes with the homogenisation process reinforces the demand for the continuation of community personal laws.…”

Section: Constitutional Protections For the Personal Lawsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…But if the initiative of reforms comes within the community by liberal reformist and enlightened members, the danger of external threat can be relieved. As Mahajan describes, "Since reforms initiated by the state often meet with hostility and suspicion from the minority community, and principles that are endorsed as universal may reflect the sentiments of the majority within the political community, the idea of accommodating internal minorities democratically through a process of collective deliberation and consensus has won considerable support in recent times…the "reforms from within" approach has gained fairly wide acceptance in minority communities, state machinery and women's groups in India" [23]. However, there come many hurdles for initiating such reforms from within as asserted by Sangari, "the experience of reform of personal law from within...for Muslim has been one of entrenchment of religious elites and a 'community' patriarchy complicit with the state….Apart from the risks of isolation and failure, a struggle to reform personal laws from within puts the onus on a small number of persons" [24].…”

Section: Reforms' Initiatives In Personal Laws: From Within the Comentioning

confidence: 99%

The Politics Of Muslim Identity And The Personal Laws: Safeguarding The Rights Of The Internal Minorities

Gautam¹

2017

IOSR JHSS

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Any discourse regarding the advancement of minority community could not be carried out successfully in the absence of taking up concerns of its own internal challenges and issues of intra-group equality. Muslim Personal Law is one such important challenge that continuously reframes the discourse of politics of Muslim identity. It is obvious that almost all personal laws relegate position of women and are discriminatory in nature, even though over the time, a lot of reforms have been done in personal laws of the Hindu, Christian as well as in Parsi communities. Although these reforms in personal laws are not entirely gender sensitive, but somehow they have progressed and transformed considerably towards an effective course of action. On the contrary, the same developments are still remaining to happen in case of the Muslim Personal Laws. On account of this, dominant groups of the society insist on corresponding reformative measures to remove such anomaly and demand homogenous and uniform personal laws in India. The Muslim women, focus of our study, face the similar situation at the hands of their own community by imposing various gender-biased personal laws. These personal laws violate the basic individual rights of women in the name of community values. Therefore, a comprehensive assessment of these personal laws needs to be done. This article analyse the challenges of the internal minorities within minority groups and corresponding measures to ensure them just and equable rights. It will further explore the conflict that occurs between internal minority and her cultural group and demonstrates the perils of multicultural accommodation in a liberal democratic society.

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Can intra-group equality co-exist with cultural diversity? Re-examining multicultural frameworks of accommodation

Cited by 21 publications

References 168 publications

Secularism in Crisis

Secularism in Crisis

Group Rights, Gender Justice, and Women’s Self-Help Groups: Exit, Voice, and Loyalty in an Indigenous Community in India

The Politics Of Muslim Identity And The Personal Laws: Safeguarding The Rights Of The Internal Minorities

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