Introduction

Abstract

This special issue of the Journal of Social Philosophy collects some of the exciting works presented over the 2013-2014 academic year under the auspices of the Mellon Sawyer Seminar Series on Democratic Citizenship and the Recognition of Cultural Differences. That seminar, which took place at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, and which was funded through a generous grant by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, served as a forum for some of the world's top scholars to present cutting-edge research that examines how democratic societies can be inclusive of a wide range of cultural practices and forms of expression while also maintaining a strong commitment to respecting a secular public sphere, universal human rights, and women's equality.Philosophical reflection and research on these issues are vital, especially as the continuing process of globalization increases international migration and makes possible democratic politics and polities that rapidly outgrow local cultural communities. These effects of globalization indicate, as many theorists have recognized for some time, that cultural diversity will be a persistent feature of democratic polities for the foreseeable future. As such, it is fitting that we engage in critical reflection not only on the obstacles that cultural differences present to a healthy and democratic polity and how to overcome them, but also on the opportunities and benefits of having a diversity of cultural traditions, backgrounds, and values present in modern democracies.The idea of citizenship stands in equal need of theoretical treatment at this time. With the repercussions and consequences of the Arab Spring still playing out across a number of states, the meaning and value of democratic citizenship is today a question of great political significance. Moreover, in the wake of the recent Occupy movement, the questions of what it means to be a member of a democratic society and of how such members should identify with one another have become pressing. Is the democratic equality that we seek an equality of citizens before the law, the ballot box, the bread line, or the job line? And with so many liberal theorists crying the dual trumpet calls of freedom and equality, we ought to stop for a moment and ask how we can best protect these ideals and also for whom? How do we draw the lines between members and nonmembers of a democratic polity?Are certain identities simply incompatible with democratic rule? Is Islam incompatible with the Western liberal political tradition? Can a devout Muslim, Hindu, or Christian fully and sincerely affirm the tenets of Western liberal bs_bs_banner