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Mononational Germany? Multinational Switzerland? A critique of Will Kymlicka's theory of multiculturalism *
Author(s) -
REINHARDT KARIN
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
nations and nationalism
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.655
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1469-8129
pISSN - 1354-5078
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-8129.2011.00521.x
Subject(s) - multinational corporation , multiculturalism , state (computer science) , political science , sociology , political economy , positive economics , law , economics , algorithm , computer science
. This article presents a critique of Will Kymlicka's theory of multiculturalism. It examines Kymlicka's theoretical distinction between mononational and multinational states and his empirical examples that support this theory: Germany as an example of a mononational state and Switzerland as an example of a multinational state. By means of a content analysis of constitutions, it demonstrates that Danes and Sorbs should be characterised as national minorities in Germany, whereas the French‐ and Italian‐speaking communities of Switzerland do not constitute nations. The distinction between mono‐ and multinational states proposed by Kymlicka does not hold for Germany and Switzerland, and hence must be approached anew, theoretically as well as empirically.