Will Kymlicka's theory

Will Kymlicka’s minority rights theory, for a multicultural citizenship, takes into account about three main points. Will Kymlicka is a Canadian philosopher whose works about multiculturalism have given us important points to comprehend the evolving societal structure in a globalized world. 

Starting with the Self-Government, as the name states, is the ability to govern one self meaning to have political and territorial autonomy to be able to keep their traditions untouched. An indispensable example about this is how minority groups had to establish their own set of rules to preserve their identity. It alludes to the political rights that are seen as official for a community, such as the right to vote, to own a property and to receive education. 

Ex. Immigrants in the United States have established their own communities where everyone shares traditions and a specific territory, and sometimes they are supported by the law of the place, or they create their own set of rules. 

Another main point is the Poly-ethnic, this point is significant because it helps to include or integrate the cultural minorities and promote their lifestyle in a society. An essential example about this point is that the groups are allowed to be themselves, embrace their culture and lifestyle in the society that they belong to, because they are accepted by them. On the other hand, they are not recognized by the law. It refers to the social rights, which mean that these rights work in order for the society to work out their problems and be able to coexist. Some examples are: freedom of speech, security, not to be exploited…

Ex. LGBTQ+ communities are starting to gain recognition by members of the society. At the same time, in the present, they are still struggling to gain political recognition since in many countries being part of this community is illegal or considered as bad behavior. 

The last point that Kymlicka takes is the Representation. This is the lowest level of recognition because it means that the whole country knows that these groups exist, but they are not as accepted or taking into account.  This group represents just the human rights, which means they are granted to everyone for the only reason that we are all human. Everything considered friendly is part of the representation group because it treats people as they are, human beings. Some examples are: life, respect, freedom of religion. 

Ex. Students belong to these groups because they exist in a society, but they are not granted with as much visibility as they deserve, the same thing happens with members of the 3rd age groups, teenagers and disable people. These groups are recognized by the human rights, but they don't belong to any specific society or territory because they're sill part of a general one. Nevertheless, most of the time these groups are forgotten.

 

OPINION:

In my opinion, this theory describes perfectly how we live right now. There are levels of privilege that some groups take advantage of because the world is evolving and acceptance becomes easier and a key to integrate the group in the social order. Despite the fact that these levels are marked by the type of rights these groups rely on.  It is true that if we see the world as fragmented as it is, we will continue to separate these groups and diminish their value on the society as a whole. Human, social or political rights must be given to every citizen despite their culture. Even though it is just a theory, it reflects how departed we are from the idea of a unity, the society that not only explores diversity but embraces it. What is the point in granting some rights to some and depriving some groups from the advantages of feeling protected and supported. Recognition shouldn't be based on these ideas, but I now know that it is the reality we are facing day by day. This theory comes very close to how we can fix our “differences” and try to be more open-minded about the way societies work. I agree with the idea that this is how we are distributed, minority groups because they are considered as a minority are not taken into account in the decision-making process. But I refuse to believe that this can’t be changed, I think that it is possible that these groups can be recognized by every right even though by the majority they are not worth of them. 

We can see with disabled people who are somehow respected but they most of the time struggle to find a job, or how LGBTQ+ members aren't recognized by institutions to be able to marry their loved ones. Or in the higher level of this theory, how natives live in certain areas because they are still not accepted in the society despite being part of the historical context. Will Kymlicka’s theory explores the points that we don’t want to acknowledge because most of the time we turn the blind eye on them. 

REFERENCES:

(N.d.). Uregina.Ca. Retrieved September 13, 2022, from https://uregina.ca/~gingrich/k1.htm#:~:text=Kymlicka%20defines%20national%20minorities%20in,rights%20or%20special%20representation%20rights.

Braund, M. J. (n.d.). Will Kymlicka. Thecanadianencyclopedia.Ca. Retrieved September 14, 2022, from https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/will-kymlicka

 

Article of opinion.

 "I HAVE A DREAM"  that this dream will eventually come true. 

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr gave a very inspiring speech called “I Have a Dream”, declared on the 28th of August 1963. In this speech he exposes the ideal scenery for the African American communities who suffered from discrimination and lack of recognition even though they were also American and a substantial part of the community. This speech was supposed to give hope to the communities about a future where everyone could be treated equally, but as the present taught us, we are still fighting for this cause even 50 years after. 

“Five score years ago, a great American in whose symbolic shadow we stand today signed the Emancipation Proclamation” 

He starts by talking about the Emancipation Proclamation, which was what we call the end of slavery, signed by Abraham Lincoln in 1863. From here on, African Americans were supposed to be treated differently, but he continues by explaining that “One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity”. He meant to expose a reality that this idea of freedom was just for a few and that they were treated almost the same. In my opinion, what we call America has always been separated despite it being a multicultural place. We can say that African Americans were considered a form of descriptive multiculturalism, but they struggled to escalate to a normative type. They were considered a group, but never really dignified as human beings at the time. 

This idea is described later on when Dr King refers to the declaration of Independence guaranteeing “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” which in reality was available for white people only. The idea of giving African Americans a dignified life was not on the plan, or at least explicitly. This created a world of injustice and lack of identity for those who were not supported by the government because in comparison to other groups they were considered a minority, therefore they did not receive the same attention. He continues talking about the importance of unity and how this is a topic that not only concerns African Americans, but it is something that everyone has to be part of because we are all humans.

“We refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt”. A very clever idea was to use the bank as a metaphor for changing their checks for rights, and how this worked for some, but for others it seemed that there were not any funds. This rejection and segregation caused that these communities joined together, and became very attached to their religion. A cultural trait that is very well known in the African American communities and the culture they had built. The church was an escape, an example is how gospel allowed people to express themselves through music and how almost every artist set their bases into it. 

We can see this context in Dr King’s speech because he used many biblical allusions. 

“Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.”(Jeremiah 2:13) which encourages people to fight for their rights but not exceed this hatred because violence is still not the answer as Gandhi used to say. 

“I have a dream” cannot be a more fitting name for a speech that talks about an ideal society, an ideal way of living, fair for all and how this was expected to happen in the future. It was seen as something possible, a change that was about to come. Specially when Dr King talks about his own family and legacy: 

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character”.

All in all, Dr King’s speech is still relevant today because many of these actions are still present in the daily life. Black, brown or yellow people are not treated equally because they are still considered a minority. Despite having rights like everybody else, having a unique culture and identity that was built from many events, including this speech that I just talked about. 

If you think words can’t change the world, I think they are completely underestimating it. Changes do not come overnight, it takes time because there are some ideas that are rooted in some people, and it's very hard to make them change their mind. It takes time to be able to change them in order to respect others, we can say that the new generations are growing up surrounded by multiculturalism, by freedom of speech, and they are allowed to create their own identity. It's a matter of time to make this dream come true and prove that a word of equality would be better.  

As Dr. King mentioned: 

“With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together [...] knowing that we will be free one day”.

“Free at last, free at last, great God a-mighty, we are free at last”.

The response to new social movements has been divided, but it brought many changes that are taking us to this utopia that Martin Luther King Jr once dreamed about. 

References: 

2K Studios. (2017, Jan 18). Martin Luther King Jr. - I Have A Dream (Subtitulado en español) [Completo] . [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zxQRHJJuXU

King, M.L., Jr. (1963, August 28). I have a dream [Speech transcript]. The Avalon Project. https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/mlk01.asp