Abstract
Multiculturalism is a political strand recognizing religions and cultures that are not represented in secular or culturally neutral states and promoting integration of minority groups into the wider society through such cultural recognition. This trend of thought is now under criticism for allegedly balkanizing society and conflicting with democratic and secular values. Such criticism has become widespread, especially in Europe, where Islamic radicalism causes serious security problems. Europeans more and more are coming to think that multiculturalism prevents Muslims from social integration, and even promotes undemocratic values among them, finally resulting in terrorism. In response to the issue and in support of multiculturalism, this paper investigates some theoretical and empirical studies on identity. First, I critically develop the identity theory of Charles Taylor and point out that he failed to theorize openness of identity. Then, I discuss Stuart Hall’s and Anthony Giddens’s identity theories and argue that Giddens provides an appropriate theory of identity, which combines the best properties of closedness and openness of identity. To demonstrate the usefulness of the Giddens theory, I deal with some studies on contemporary European Muslims and reveal that they achieve compatibility between being Muslims and being European citizens by reflexively managing their complex identities. In terms of system theory, the openness of their identities becomes possible through the closedness of them. In conclusion, I support multiculturalism by explaining positive relations between Islam and democratic citizenship.
