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dissertation (2)


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English (2)


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2022 (2)

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Dissertation
From There to Here: A liberal multicultural case for expanded rights of climate refugees
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Year: 2022 Publisher: Leuven KU Leuven. Hoger Instituut voor Wijsbegeerte

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Abstract

Will Kymlicka pioneered a theory of liberal multiculturalism with his 1995 book Multicultural Citizenship. In this work, he argues that liberal societies not only can accommodate multicultural rights but indeed they require them in order for individuals to realize the full extent of the freedoms liberalism promises. For all its merits, the trouble with Kymlicka’s theory is that it deals with cultural diversity in only a few forms, namely voluntary immigrants and involuntary national minorities. In this paper, I will ask what sort of multicultural policy should we propose for climate refugees. I will first examine Kymlicka’s concept of a societal culture. In doing so, I will isolate three elements of a societal culture which I assert are the central interests for displaced peoples. These are identity, autonomy, and opportunity interests. I then go on to examine the notion of voluntariness, as the difference of the entitlements of national minorities and immigrants hangs on this distinction. After outlining precisely what is meant by voluntariness, I examine the case of climate refugees and conclude, unsurprisingly, that their migration is involuntary. After this, I address Kymlicka’s objections which he himself outlines to treating refugees like national minorities. These are objections about which country would bear this responsibility, the current dispersion of refugees, and a feasibility argument. I also pull out of Kymlicka’s theory an implied objection which I take to be the prominence of territorial attachment in his theory. I address these objections in turn and isolate the case of climate refugees as precisely those who have the most interest in recreating their societal culture in a new place. I finally go on to propose two ways we may fulfill the entitlements I have posited. We could grant climate refugees some form of local control in their neighborhoods, this would fulfill the identity and autonomy concerns. Alternatively, we could grant climate refugees the right to resettle in a third country, thus meeting the opportunity concerns.

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Dissertation
The (Post) Secular Implications of Indian Society
Authors: --- ---
Year: 2022 Publisher: Leuven KU Leuven. Hoger Instituut voor Wijsbegeerte

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“What does secularism in India imply in the context of Hindu nationalist ideology and religious identity politics in the public sphere, and what does it require in such societies of diverse identities to coexist and cooperate amidst our different individual and collective existential commitments?” I critically investigate this question vis-à-vis post-secular thinking to devise a methodology to effectively manage the diverse nature of contemporary societies. To provide context, I offer an account of both secularism and post-secularism, and their implications in Indian society in reference to religious identity politics. In line with Jürgen Habermas, I argue that, in a post-secular society, both religious and non-religious citizens should engage in complementary learning processes to normatively respond to the political polarization between the secular and the religious. I suggest that the best meaning of secularism can only be plausible if each citizen actively and creatively participates and learns from different rational and moral frameworks. I conclude that education and self-transformation aid us in realizing this goal. That is, education and self-transformation are fundamental and indispensable to creating citizens who act autonomously and responsibly.

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