STOCKHOLM — State-sponsored multiculturalism has failed. That proclamation by British Prime Minister David Cameron, following hard on the heels of similar renunciations of multiculturalism by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, suggests that a page is being turned in European society. But is it?
Cameron's attack on multiculturalism minced no words. "Frankly," he said, "we need a lot less of the passive tolerance of recent years and a much more active, muscular liberalism."
He was not criticizing ethnic and cultural pluralism, but the idea of "state multiculturalism," which applies different moral standards to various social groups. In the future, Cameron declared, Muslim groups that do not, for example, endorse women's rights, defend freedom of expression, or promote integration would lose all government funding.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.