Multiculturalism and caring ethics

The chapter provides an attempt to establish a dialogue between critical multiculturalism and an ethics of care. Through the prism of ethics of care, the chapter addresses some basic problems with liberal interpretations of multiculturalism. As an alternative, it sets out the contours of a “caring multiculturalism.” This perspective puts greater emphasis on the conflations between politics and psychology and the ontological interrelatedness of the subject. Caring multiculturalism is attentive to the public recognition of minority groups, to their empowerment, and to the unequal distribution of power between groups. At the same time it emphasizes an understanding of ethics that stresses the importance of the values and practices of care encapsulated in an attentive, responsible, competent, and responsive understanding of politics and needs.