Accommodating Diversity: Ideas and Institutional Practices

How does the presence of diversity impact our understanding of society and formulation of adequate policies? This collection examines the Indian experience of diversity by delineating the policies and institutional arrangements that have been designed to accommodate different kinds of diversities, and highlighting the problems that the chosen path has yielded. The issues being examined include the Uniform Civil Code, the State's patronage of languages, affirmative action in educational institutions, and minority participation in electoral politics. So far, the notion of multiculturalism has been addressed by theories that have emerged from Western societies. This volume marks a step in the direction of rethinking such questions in the Indian context.