Kymlicka’s theory of multicultural citizenship distinguishes between national minorities and immigrant groups and argues that national minority claims are perceived as morally legitimate by contrast with the demands coming from more recent, migration-related minorities (Kymlicka 1995). Drawing from empirical research conducted in the framework of a European project, this session seeks to challenge this theory by examining the level of acceptance of European countries towards different kinds of minority claims. In particular, it will discuss whether ethnic claims can be perceived as more urgent and therefore prioritised, than national minorities whose claims have been institutionalised and somehow shuttered.

Accept Pluralism is an EU funded project (7th PCRD, 2010-2013) that aims at evaluating the acceptance of European society towards diversity. States’ responses to minority claims are one such instance where acceptance can be examined. The project offers a wide European coverage of 15 EU countries and one accessing country, Turkey. For this session, a selection of countries is presented so as to reflect a specificity of the project, notably to bring together two distinctive strands of research, on native minorities and migrant populations.

Papers will compare the political representation of historical minorities such as the Sami of Sweden and the Circassian of Turkey with Muslim mobilisations in Western Europe (France, UK and Denmark). Presenters will highlight the specificity of each claim (based on culture, self-determination, freedom of speech or anti-discrimination) and will seek to evaluate the level of acceptance of diversity in each of these countries’ political life, with the objective to chart the state of minority claims in an extended Europe.