Multiculturalist Liberalism and Harms to Women: Looking through the Issue of the Veil

This article discusses the interaction between the tenets of multiculturalism and liberalism, and questions how civil government should treat culture- or religion-based rights claims that are incompatible with gender equality. It creates three classifications in relation to recent perspectives on 'multiculturalist-liberalism' and the issue of veil-wearing by Muslim girls and women. First, 'vision-impaired liberalism' is supposedly blind to increasing harms to women caused by preferential treatment of religions. Second, 'monocular liberalism' identifies gender inequalities resulting from religious constraints, but is optimistic about the self-corrective mechanism of the liberal state. Third, 'binocular liberalism' insists upon secular values and prioritization of gender equality in the hierarchy of rights. Ultimately, the authors argue that a liberal state must first commit to secularism as a precursor to both feminist and anti-racist advancement.