The cartoon controversy as a case of multicultural recognition

Lægaard, Sune

doi:10.1080/13569770701562625

Cited by 13 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…In fact, respect for beliefs does seem to have been an immediate concern in the cartoons affair, in that many Muslims saw the cartoons as a calculated act of disrespect, a calculated insult, directed at Muslims themselves (Laegaard 2007b). But let's put that to one side and suppose that the primary concern of Muslims was the disrespect shown to Mohammed rather than to themselves.…”

Section: Respecting Beliefsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Religious Belief and Freedom of Expression: Is Offensiveness Really the Issue?

Jones

2011

Res Publica

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An objection frequently brought against critical or satirical expressions, especially when these target religions, is that they are 'offensive'. In this article, I indicate why the existence of diverse and conflicting beliefs gives people an incentive to formulate their complaints in the language of offence. But I also cast doubt on whether people, in saying they are offended really mean to present that as the foundation of their complaint and, if they do, whether their complaint should weigh with us. These doubts do not apply to everything we might find offensive; in particular, they do not apply to simple cases of 'sensory offence'; but they do apply to 'belief-based offence'. Relying on offence also implies, inequitably, that different faiths should be differently protected depending on their susceptibility to offence; and the faithful themselves should worry about the flimsiness of claims based on 'bare knowledge' offence. I propose a principle of respect for beliefs as a differently grounded and more plausible reason for curbing our treatment of others' beliefs. However, that principle has a limited compass and is hemmed in by the claims of free expression. It is also less suited to dictating the content of law than to influencing our conduct within the law.Keywords Freedom of speech Á Freedom of expression Á Offence Á Offensiveness Á Respect Á Respect for beliefs Á Danish cartoons Á Jerry Springer: the Opera My interest in this paper is in the offence that people feel, or claim to feel, when their beliefs are criticised or ridiculed and that they offer as a reason why others should desist from criticism and ridicule. My main interest is not so much in the

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Section: Respecting Beliefsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Religious Belief and Freedom of Expression: Is Offensiveness Really the Issue?

Jones

2011

Res Publica

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“…More interestingly for practical purposes, an analysis along these lines can indicate possibilities for different conceptions of the two general concepts (e.g. Forst, 2003, on toleration, and Lægaard, 2007, on recognition). This can help clarify which conceptions are actually intended or implied in particular uses, which might in turn qualify the claim about incompatibility and even suggest possible ways of resolving apparent tensions.…”

Section: Aspects Of Recognition and Tolerationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Multicultural recognition then becomes a preoccupation with the ways in which established norms of the majority undermine the social equality of minorities, because these non‐neutral cultural values are taken for granted in the operation of institutions and in social interaction, thus sometimes unjustifiably excluding or disadvantaging minorities from equal status or the benefits or treatment properly owed to them as equal and full citizens. The act of recognition then consists in either an acknowledgement of the equal status that members of minorities actually have (Lægaard, 2007, p. 151), or becomes a matter of positively bestowing equal status on them. It might not be possible to distinguish the two in practice, since actual social status can be said to be constituted by repeated acts of recognition (Jones, 2006, p. 128).…”

Section: Acts Of Recognitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recognition and Toleration: Conflicting approaches to diversity in education?

Lægaard

2010

Educational Philosophy and Theory

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Recognition and toleration are ways of relating to the diversity characteristic of multicultural societies. The article concerns the possible meanings of toleration and recognition, and the conflict that is often claimed to exist between these two approaches to diversity. Different forms or interpretations of recognition and toleration are considered, confusing and problematic uses of the terms are noted, and the compatibility of toleration and recognition is discussed. The article argues that there is a range of legitimate and importantly different conceptions of both toleration and recognition that are often not clearly distinguished, and that compatibility varies across this range and depending on what one considers the conceptions in relation to.

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“…To take the example of legislation against racial hatred extended to cover Muslims as a group advocated by Modood as a requirement of moderate secularism and multicultural equality, it is not at all clear that such legislation would be an act of recognition of Muslim identity; if it offers a kind of recognition, it might just as well, and more plausibly, be a factual acknowledgement that Muslims are present in society, and a recognition that they have a certain legal status. But the legal status of a religious community is not at all the same as its members' subjective identity (Lægaard, 2007, pp. 155–156).…”

Section: Modood On Multicultural Equalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Moderate Secularism and Multicultural Equality

Lægaard

2008

Politics

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Tariq Modood argues that European states are only ‘moderately secular’ and that this kind of secularism is compatible with public accommodation of religious groups and provides a model of Muslim integration appropriate for European states. Although attention to the fact of moderate secularism provides a response to a prominent argument against multicultural accommodation of religious minorities, what is really at stake in discussions of multiculturalism and secularism are political principles. Modood's case for accommodation of Muslims along the lines of moderate secularism presupposes a normative conception of equality, but his characterisation of multicultural equality is inadequate in several respects.

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The cartoon controversy as a case of multicultural recognition

Cited by 13 publications

References 2 publications

Religious Belief and Freedom of Expression: Is Offensiveness Really the Issue?

Religious Belief and Freedom of Expression: Is Offensiveness Really the Issue?

Recognition and Toleration: Conflicting approaches to diversity in education?

Moderate Secularism and Multicultural Equality

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