| Generous Betrayal: Politics of Culture in the New Europe Contributor(s): Wikan, Unni (Author) |
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ISBN: 0226896854 ISBN-13: 9780226896854 Publisher: University of Chicago Press OUR PRICE: $33.66 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: December 2001 Annotation: All over Western Europe, the lot of many non-Western immigrants is one of marginalization, discrimination, and increasing segregation. In this bold and controversial book, Unni Wikan shows how an excessive respect for "their culture" has been part of the problem. Culture has become a new concept of race, sustaining ethnic identity politics that subvert human rights-especially for women and children. Fearful of being considered racist, state agencies have sacrificed freedom and equality in the name of culture. Should immigrants be allowed to take their children, who have been born and raised in one country back to the "homeland" to be married against their will? Should schools provide bilingual instruction, even when it means that children of immigrants will never learn to speak their mother tongue? Where should immigrants' loyalties lie-with their country of birth or their country of residence? What is the meaning of citizenship in this multicultural world? These are among the questions that Wikan confronts, comparing her native Norway to Western Europe and the United States. Writing with power and grace, she makes a plea for a renewed moral vitality and human empathy that can pave the way for more effective social policies and create change. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Social Science | Ethnic Studies - General - Political Science | Human Rights - Social Science | Emigration & Immigration |
| Dewey: 305.800 |
| LCCN: 2001043722 |
| Physical Information: 0.72" H x 6.1" W x 8.94" (0.93 lbs) 308 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 20th Century - Cultural Region - Western Europe |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: All over Western Europe, the lot of many non-Western immigrants is one of marginalization, discrimination, and increasing segregation. In this bold and controversial book, Unni Wikan shows how an excessive respect for their culture has been part of the problem. Culture has become a new concept of race, sustaining ethnic identity politics that subvert human rights--especially for women and children. Fearful of being considered racist, state agencies have sacrificed freedom and equality in the name of culture. Comparing her native Norway to Western Europe and the United States, Wikan focuses on people caught in turmoil, how institutions function, and the ways in which public opinion is shaped and state policies determined. Contradictions arise between policies of respect for minority cultures, welfare, and freedom, but the goal is the same: to create a society committed to both social justice and respect for human rights. Writing with power and grace, Wikan makes a plea for a renewed moral vitality and human empathy that can pave the way for more effective social policies and create change. |
Contributor Bio(s): Wikan, Unni: - Unni Wikan is professor of social anthropology at the University of Oslo, Norway, andthe author of numerous books. She has also taught at Harvard University, Beersheba University, L'ecole des hautes etudes en sciences sociales, and the London School of Economics. In 2004 she received the Norwegian Fritt Ord Award for "her insightful, openhearted and challenging contributions to the public debate on the value conflicts in multicultural societies."She is a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. |