The transformation of contemporary American liberalism and the development of the theories of "minority rights" : theoretical and practical consequences of "liberalism debate"

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1) This research first attempted to map out the different claims of the second generation liberals in reference to their concrete rights claims. In addition, it also attempted to map out the corresponding critiques of the first generations that have been raised against them. It found out that the different policy implications will result from same conceptions of rights, depending on the concrete political context that the specific political theorist has in mind. It also found out that there exists overlap of arguments between liberals of first and second generations because liberals of the second generation attempted to make most of the latent potentials of the first generations.2) Second, this research attempted to analyze the possible tensions within liberals of the second generations by highlighting the debate between feminists and multiculturalism and its relation to the discourse of liberal theories of the first generations. The research found out that both multiculturalists and f … More eminists tend to integrate their own claims into the more general theory of equality to accommodate the competing claims of each group in a fairer manner. It also found out that these debates between different identity groups significantly affect the ways in which the liberal theorists of the first generations attempt to modify their formulations in the recent years.3) Third, this research compared the notions of political identity and rights in recent American liberal discourse with those of liberals of interwar America and Europe, in addition to those of contemporary Japanese liberal discourse. It found out that there emerged a growing concern for the citizenship theory of interwar liberals such as Marshall due primarily to the discussions among recent multicultural liberals. It also found out that there is an overlap of concerns and arguments between recent Japanese liberals and Western theories of minority cultural rights due to the nationalistic moment latent within both of these discourse. Less