In a 2002 article in the Brookings Review, Peter Skerry claims that many Americans see" the extraordinary variety and quality of ethnic cuisine now available in the United States as evidence of the unalloyed benefits flowing from our racial and ethnic diversity"(20). Skerry termed this shallow under standing of diversity" sushiology," arguing that Americans have uncritically jumped on the diversity bandwagon without thinking about its challenge to social solidarity.

In this article, I draw on the writings of John Dewey to reveal that his thought provides an important resource in the American intellectual tradi tion for a sophisticated view of diversity that does not belittle its challenges. Dewey s thoughts on diversity are shaped by his encounter with the philoso phy of Hegel, whose political thought, contrary to popular opinion, did not subordinate the rights of individuals to the imperatives of the state. 1 Hegel's and Dewey's best insights on social diversity grew out of their critique of the British liberal tradition, according to which, in the state of nature, we choose to form societies in spite of our differences. Both Hegel and Dewey rejected the state of nature, maintaining that we are social beings to begin with, and that we live together in groups because we are different and thus complementary to one another. On this model of society, diversity and a degree of conflict are essential to the health of society. Their rejection of the British liberal tradition has created considerable confusion among scholars about both Dewey's and Hegels conception of the individual's relationship to society.