Contextualism, Constitutionalism, and Modus Vivendi Approaches

Abstract

This paper examines the turn to contextualism in the political theory literature on multiculturalism and minority rights. It distinguishes several, partly-incompatible, senses in which political theory can make use of cases and context, including some that may be distinctively appropriate to the study of cultural diversity. It argues that there is something importantly distinctive in this trend in the literature, but that it is not wholly novel - a return, rather than simply a turn, toward social facts and away from pure moral theory in thinking about justice.

Keywords: multiculturalism, contexturalism, constitutionalism, modus vivendi, political theory, political philosophy, cultural diversity, cultural pluralism