Relating Nationalism and Political Theory

Abstract

This paper discusses the limitations of the liberal model of multiculturalism as a conceptual framework suitable for thinking about justice in complex ethnoreligious national contestations by introducing a wide spectrum of its critics. Liberal formulations of multiculturalism, it is argued, do not challenge the underpinning power infrastructure of the polity nor the normative definition of belonging as articulated by the so-called 'majority culture'. Conversely, the polycentric tactic articulated by Nancy Fraser indeed offers the possibility for a counter hegemonic reimagining of the power arrangements. But it does not address how religion may partake in such introspective rethinking. This process does not imply merely a power reconfiguration. It also entails a reassessment and rethinking of the legitimizing ethos of the nation.