Roberta
Medda
Old and New Minorities:
Reconciling Diversity and Cohesion
a Human Rights Model for Minority Integration
Questions concerning whether and how the rights of minorities should
be recognized in politics, and how to maintain and strengthen the
bonds of community in ethnically diverse societies, are among the
most salient and vexing on the political agenda of many societies.
The growing diversity of national communities has generated pressures
for new and more defensible forms of accommodating social cohesion
and diversity. Although societies need to develop appropriate models
of integration suited to their history, traditions, demographic
composition, political requirements, and so on, their decisions
should be guided by two general principles, namely respect for
diversity and fostering a sense of common belonging and unity. This
book states that it is possible to develop a defensible model for
minority integration that reconciles unity and diversity. Studying
the interaction between "old" and "new" minority
groups and how they complement each other is a rather new task. So
far these topics have been studied in isolation from each other. It
is also an important task for future research in Europe where many
states have established systems of "old" minority rights,
but have not yet developed sound policies for the integration of
"new" minority groups originating from recent migration.
Old and New Minorities: Reconciling Diversity and Cohesion is a
valuable resource for academics, scholars, students, and
practitioners working on international human rights law, and the law
and policy surrounding minorities, migrants, refugees, and all
categories of non-citizens.
