Politics in the Vernacular

Abstract This book explores the rights and situations of ethnocultural groups in Western democracies. It presents essays that share three major themes: the dialectic of nation building and minority rights, the gap between theory and practice of liberal democracies; and the effectiveness of emerging forms of nation-building and minority rights in Western democracies. The book is divided into four parts. Part I presents debates on the rights of ethnocultural minorities. Part II discusses the requirements for ethnocultural justices in a liberal democracy. Part III examines liberals’ misconceptions about nationalism. Part IV focuses on how democratic citizenship can be sustained.