Citizenship in Diverse Societies ed. by Will Kymlicka, Wayne Norman (review)

336 letters in canada 2001 university of toronto quarterly, volume 72, number 1, winter 2002/3 in turn yield distinctive sets of Indigenous interests and corresponding constitutional rights and entitlements. Macklem ventures further than many contemporary judicial analysts by supplementing his criticism of Canadian law with recommendations for alternative interpretive strategies for adjudicating Aboriginal rights, including the contentious issue of applying the Charter to Aboriginal governments. Moreover, in addition to building a case for negative state duties to recognize and respect increased Aboriginal autonomy and legislative authority, Macklem=s approach is further distinguished by his call for positive state duties, both to promote the effective realization of social and economic benefits among the Aboriginal population, and to negotiate treaties in good faith with Aboriginal governments. In making these claims, Macklem also does well not to ignore politics in his treatment of the law, and pays close attention to issues of institutional legitimacy and institutional competence in judicial decision-making. A nice addition to the book might have seen Macklem engage with the recent arguments of Alan Cairns, who sees a preference for law over politics among many of the scholars working in this area, a tendency which he feels has a corrosive effect on a sense of common citizenship, solidarity, and mutual obligation among Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples in Canada. Macklem=s case might also have been strengthened by a more thorough discussion of the relationship between judicial decisions and political practice. For example, can positive court decisions have a significant impact in the absence of the political will to implement them? Moreover , given the softness of public support for Aboriginal claims in Canada once the costs of such claims are revealed, how might that same public receive judicial decisions imposing positive duties on government to redistribute scarce resources and public funds? These are important questions , but their neglect does not change the fact that this is an excellent book that is sure to become one of the standard texts in the field. (MICHAEL MURPHY) Will Kymlicka and Wayne Norman, editors. Citizenship in Diverse Societies Oxford University Press 2000. xii, 444. US $24.95 The editors of this collection of essays put forth the tantalizing claim that the purpose of this volume is to connect more systematically two prevalent yet distinct topics of interest to political philosophers: debates about cultural or ethnic minority rights on the one hand, and civic responsibilities owed by citizens on the other. With a few notable exceptions, the volume does not live up to this claim. It does succeed in providing a useful sampling of various liberal justifications (ranging from prudential to ethical arguments) for accommo- humanities 337 university of toronto quarterly, volume 72, number 1, winter 2002/3 dating specific minorities, including religious groups, linguistic minorities, and Indigenous peoples. It also offers defences of measures that are intended to ensure the full participation of certain minorities in liberal societies. There are also some very good essays on strategies for accommodating minority group rights, while respecting individual rights. And, of course, there are essays that posit the benefits to all citizens of specific forms of minority accommodation and recognition by advocates for particular minority groups. What is, quite disappointingly, not discussed in any great detail is the issue of civic duties owed by minorities as members of liberal societies. In fairness, there are a few serious contributions in this volume to the debate about the relationship of minority rights and civic duties. Jeremy Waldron contributes a rigorously argued chapter in which he deals squarely with the issue of civic responsibility, and in which he delineates a class of minority claims that would be, at least prima facie, senseless for liberal societies to accommodate. Eamonn Callan and Jeff Spinner-Halev also deal earnestly with the issue of whether and when educational autonomy for religious groups might conflict with the need of the state to foster civic education. Once, however, one dispenses with the hope that civic responsibility claims will be incorporated systematically in the essays in this volume, it is possible to appreciate it for what it does offer. The book possesses an important virtue B it makes the point that the merits of minority...