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• Title: Group-Differentiated Rights and the Problem of Membership (Essay)
• Author : Social Theory and Practice
• Release Date : January 01, 2011
• Genre: Religion & Spirituality,Books,
• Pages : * pages
• Size : 250 KB

Description

In recent decades the literature surrounding what Will Kymlicka has termed "group-differentiated rights" (1) has burgeoned. Much progress has been made in exploring the various justifications for, and limitations of, the allocation of rights and benefits to individuals on the basis of group membership. For the purposes of this paper, though, I will be simply assuming that the theoretical justifications of group-differentiated rights can be defended. I want to explore a different problem, one that ! feel has been given insufficient attention by those who advocate the introduction of group-differentiated rights at a policy level. The problem is this: once we move from the theoretical justification of group-differentiated rights to their implementation in practice, we are immediately confronted with the dilemma of identifying which particular individuals are to benefit. In other words, for any given group-differentiated right, we need to be able to pinpoint who the members of that group are. For example, if we hold that the state has an obligation to create legal exemptions for some citizens on the basis of their cultural or religious affiliations, to which particular citizens are we going to grant the exemption? Or if we hold that the state has an obligation to institute some form of affirmative action for positions of power or status, which particular citizens are we going to include under this policy? While defenders of group-differentiated rights do not appear to see this as a problem, the issue of determining membership has been seized upon by skeptics as a fatal flaw in the practice. If group-differentiated rights are to be more than an abstract ideal, then, the problem of group membership must be addressed. In this paper I explore a possible solution to this problem. ! argue that determining group membership can be achieved whilst largely avoiding the theoretical and practical difficulties highlighted by opponents. I do this by introducing a typology that tracks the various interests that individuals have in group membership. I argue that we can use this typology as a tool to achieve a more nuanced and flexible understanding of group membership that can still be sufficiently determinate to serve as a practical guide. The argument proceeds through five sections. In section 1, I examine the various positions taken in the literature towards the issue of group membership. This will serve to introduce the scope of the problem and the challenges that will need to be overcome in developing a coherent and practical account of group membership. In section 2, I consider three possible models of determining group membership. These models illustrate the range of options available in determining group membership, as well as their limitations. In section 3, I turn to my typology, briefly sketching the various ways in which individual interests are tied up in group membership. In section 4, I demonstrate how this typology can be integrated with the three models of group membership to provide a workable matrix for determining group membership while mitigating many of the problems commonly taken to undermine the application of group-differentiated rights. Section 5, in conclusion, explores how the matrix can function in practice.

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