In
A Dialogical Concept of Minority Rights, Hanna H. Wei demonstrates that a more plausible and realistic concept of minority rights should consist of not only
rights against the state but also
rights against the group. She formulates and defends three separate but related
rights to dialogue, and thoroughly analyses how they may operate not only to maintain a healthy balance between the minorities’ need to be culturally distinct and their need to relate to and belong in the larger society, but also that they address the generalisations and presuppositions on which the debate of multiculturalism has been based, and constitute the first step of a possible solution to many of the theoretical and practical difficulties of minority protection.
Hanna H. Wei, Ph.D. (Bristol), is Associate Professor at the Law School of Shandong University, China. Her research interests are legal and political philosophy, human and minority rights.
Excerpt of Table of Contents
Preface; Introduction; Chapter 1: Minority Rights: Laws, Concepts, Contestations: 0. Introduction; 1. Historical Evolution of the Notion of Minority Rights; 2. Laws: International, Regional, National; 3. Concepts: Legal, Political, Social;
Chapter 2: Liberal Ideals, the Nature of Identity, Minority Rights: 0. Introduction; 1. Taxonomies of Group Rights; 2. Necessity of Group Rights; 3. Theoretical Validity and Moral Defensibility of Group Rights; 4. Group Interests, ‘Illiberal Group Rights’, the Principle of Toleration; 5. The Dialogical Nature of Cultural Identity, of Minority Rights; 6. 'Proximity' and a Dialogic Concept of Minority Rights;
Chapter 3: A Dialogical Translation of the Concept of Minority Rights: 1. Substantive, Procedural, Dialogical: What's In A Name?; 2. Legitimacy of Law and Dialogical Minority Rights; 3. A Dialogical Concept of Minority Rights; 4. Minority Rights and their Prioritisation
5. Conclusion: Contextualizing Dialogical Processes;
Chapter 4: Minority Rights against the State: 0. Introduction; 1. Minority Rights held by the Group against the State; 2. Rights held by Members of the Minority Group against the State; 3. Conclusion;
Chapter 5: Rights against the Minority Group: 0. Introduction; 1. Why is this limb of minority rights necessary?; 2. The Right to Equal Concern
3. Well-being and the Right to Internal Dialogue; 4. Theory in Practice: Cases; 5. The Right of Exit
Chapter 6: Group Agency and the Capacity to Self-Govern: 0. Introduction; 1. Moral Agency, Capacity and Group Rights; 2. The Practical Necessity of Internal Decision-Making Bodies; 3. Upgrading Capacities of Self-Government; 4. Conclusion;
Chapter 7: The Future of Minority Rights: The Conclusion: 1. Minority Rights in Human Rights System: Pros and Cons; 2. Minority Rights and Dialogue: Limits, Challenges, Possibilities; 3. Conclusion: The Rights Culture vs. A Dialogical Rights Culture;
Bibliography; Diagram; index
Human and minority rights academics, researchers, postgraduate students, practitioners, policy makers, academic libraries, and NGOs.