Multiculturalism and religious Minorities

Abstract

Recently multiculturalism has come under heavy attack. One of the backgrounds is the problem of integration of Muslim population in Western countries. Multiculturalism is blamed for having encouraged separatism and caused ghettoisation. This distorted picture of multiculturalism and the misplaced accusation would hinder accurate observation of the current problems and search for realistic means to deal with them.
  Through the survey of academic literature, I will first sketch the picture of a defendable vision of multiculturalism. I will depict it as a combination of 3 approaches, each of which addresses particular needs of minorities. Secondly, I will examine the vision and policies that multiculturalism offers for the integration of Muslim minorities. Thirdly, I will look at the difficulties and dilemmas that multiculturalism faces in dealing with Muslim minorities. By so doing, I will argue that multiculturalism provides a most promising vision of integration of Muslims, although we have to deal with some serious difficulties and dilemmas with prudence and patience.