Can Liberal Pluralism Be Exported? : Western Political Theory and Ethnic Relations in Eastern Europe

Many post-communist countries in Central/Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union are being encouraged, indeed pressured, by Western countries to improve their treatment of ethnic and national minorities and to adopt Western models of minority rights. But what are these Western models? Will they work in Eastern Europe? Here, Will Kymlicka describes a model of Western "liberal pluralism," discussing what would be involved in adopting it in the East. This is followed by commentaries from activists involved in minority rights' issues, both as practitioners and as academics, and Kymlicka's replies to their analyses. Sure to interest anyone concerned with ethnic conflict, this volume will spark discussion among all those struggling over the question of whether Western liberal values can or should be promoted in the rest of the world. Liberal pluralism and post-communism / George Schöpflin Rethinking the state, minorities, and national security / Urszula Doroszewska On the chances of ethnocultural justice in east central Europe / Tibor Várady Nation-states and immigrant societies / Michael Walzer New democracies in the old world / Boris Tsilevich Some doubts about "ethnocultural justice" / Alexander Ossipov Reflections on minority rights politics for east central European countries / Panayote Dimitras and Nafsika Papanikolatos Territorial autonomy as a minority rights regime in post-communist countries / Pål Kolstø Nation-building and beyond / János Kis Ethnocultural justice in east European states and the case of the Czech Roma / Pavel Barša Definitions and discourse: applying Kymlicka's models to Estonia and Latvia / Vello Pettai Universal thought, eastern facts: scrutinizing national minority rights in Romania / Gabriel Andreescu Perspectives on a liberal-pluralist approach to ethnic minorities in Ukraine / Volodymyr Fesenko Can Will Kymlicka be exported to Russia? / Magda Opalski Nation-building, culture, and problems of ethnocultural identity in central Asia: the case of Uzbekistan / Aleksander Djumaev Annotation Many post-communist countries in Central/Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union are being encouraged and indeed pressured by Western countries to improve their treatment of ethnic and national minorities, and to adopt Western models of minority rights. But what are these Western models, and will they work in Eastern Europe? In the first half of this volume, Will Kymlicka describes a model of 'liberal pluralism' which has gradually emerged in most Western democracies, and discusses whatwould be involved in adopting it in Eastern Europe. This is followed by 15 commentaries from people actively involved in minority rights issues in the region, as practitioners or academics, and by Kymlicka's reply. This volume will be of interest to anyone concerned with ethnic conflict in Eastern Europe, and with the more general question of whether Western liberal values can or should be promoted in the rest of the world Many post-communist countries in Central/Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union are being encouraged and indeed pressured by Western countries to improve their treatment of ethnic and national minorities, and to adopt Western models of minority rights. But what are these Western models, and will they work in Eastern Europe? In the first half of this volume, Will Kymlicka describes a model of 'liberal pluralism' which has gradually emerged in most Western democracies, and discusses what would be involved in adopting it in Eastern Europe. This is followed by 15 commentaries from people actively involved in minority rights issues in the region, as practitioners or academics, and by Kymlicka's reply. This volume will be of interest to anyone concerned with ethnic conflict in Eastern Europe, and with the more general question of whether Western liberal values can or should be promoted in the rest of the world ## Abstract This book explores recent work by Western liberal theorists on ethnocultural pluralism, and shows Western liberals that conventional ways of distinguishing between ethnic relations in the East and West do not help in understanding or responding to ethnic conflicts in the post-Communist world. The book is divided into three parts. Part 1 presents a paper by Will Kymlicka entitled ‘Western Political Theory and Ethnic Relations in Eastern Europe’. Part 2 features 15 replies and commentaries on this paper, mostly by scholars and writers in Eastern Europe. Part 3 presents a reply by Kymlicka, which examines some of the specific issues raised in the commentaries, and reflects on the exportability of Western political theory to newly-democratizing countries. Many post-communist countries in Central/Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union are being encouraged to improve their treatment of ethnic and national minorities using models. What are these models and will they work in Eastern Europe? The newly-democratizing states of Eastern and Central Europe sometimes look to the older Western democracies to see how various political issues have been handled. Edited By Will Kymlicka And Magda Opalski. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.