In his new book, Still Not Easy Being British: Struggles for a Multicultural Citizenship (Trentham, 2010), Professor Tariq Modood sets forth a concept of multiculturalism based on liberal citizenship, moderate secularism and an inclusive idea of what it is to be British.
Professor Modood, left, is director of the University of Bristol’s Centre for the Study of Ethnicity and Citizenship and a renowned commentator on Muslim politics. He recently answered questions from SEN’s web editors.
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Prime Minister David Cameron has started the ball rolling on a new debate on the relationship between multiculturalism and political extremism. His criticism of “state multiculturalism” on February 5 triggered a round of fresh discussion about multiculturalism — perhaps more precisely, pragmatic multiculturalism — that promises a move away from ideal theories of multiculturalism to more policy-oriented views on the real effects of the concept of multiculturalism.
The full transcript of Cameron’s speech can be found here.
Two days later, Tariq Modood, Professor of Sociology, Politics and Public Policy at the University of Bristol, responded with an op-ed piece in The Guardian newspaper.
The questions now are how will Cameron’s words translate to policy? And will there be policy response to Professor Modood’s counterargument?