The ideal of multicultural nationalism and the othering of Muslims

Highlighting intersections between religion, culture, and race, Modood and Sealey propose the laudable ideal of a "multicultural secularism," encompassed within a wider, diversity-affirming "multicultural nationalism." Supporting this analysis, I argue that, in the current context, any account of secularism must thematize anti-Muslim bigotry. I illustrate my argument with examples from Canada and India, examining Islamophobia through scholarship in critical philosophy of race. The situations of racialized and non-racialized minority immigrant groups in Canada are different, a point not reflected in Canadian multicultural theories. In Quebec, Muslim women face unjustifiable restrictions on hijab, under the aegis of a secularism that functions as a mask for racism. India, for its part, has never been as pluralistic as the secular ideals within its constitution suggest. It also needs a "thickening" of identity, including the elements of de-othering and positive recognition that Modood and Sealey recommend as essential to genuinely multicultural nationhood.