Competing Claims to Recognition in the Nigerian Public Sphere: A Liberal Argument about Justice in Plural Societies

As the worldwide clamor of group claims to difference and equality grows ever louder, Competing Claims to Recognition analyzes the complex constitutional devices required to accommodate ethnic differences in multiethnic Nigeria. Through a perceptive examination of the philosophical arguments of Will Kymlika and Charles Taylor, and the empirical studies of Arthur Lewis, Arend Lijphart, Eric Nordlinger, and Donald Horowitz, the book examines how constitutional structures that express cultural plurality must be carefully constructed to ensure both justice and social stability. This superb African case study will be of great interest to scholars of multiculturalism and African studies seeking new perspectives on the question of ethnic identity.