Description
Book Synopsis''Multiculturalism has run its course, and it is time to move on.'' So begins Jonathan Sacks'' new book on the future of British society and the dangers facing liberal democracy.
Arguing that global communications have fragmented national cultures and that multiculturalism, intended to reduce social frictions, is today reinforcing them, Sacks argues for a new approach to national identity. We cannot stay with current policies that are producing a society of conflicting ghettoes and non-intersecting lives, turning religious bodies into pressure groups rather than society-building forces.
Britain, he argues, will have to construct a national narrative as a basis for identity, reinvigorate the concept of the common good, and identify shared interests among currently conflicting groups. It must restore a culture of civility, protect neutral spaces from politicization, and find ways of moving beyond an adversarial culture in which the loudest voice wins. He ar
Trade Review
"He [Sacks] argues like an expert dancer, leading his audience through a waltz of lilting reasonableness" Observer "A deeply philosophical, yet extremely hard-hitting book..." Jewish Telegraph"
Table of Contents
Part One: How Did We Get Here?; 1. Introduction; 2. Society as Country House, Hotel or Home; 3. A Brief History of Multiculturalism; 4. The Defeat of Freedom in the Name of Freedom; 5. Victims; 6. Technology and the Fragmentation of Culture; 7. The Inward Turn; Part Two: A Theory of Society Creation; 8. A Forgotten Political Classic; 9. Social Contract, Social Covenant; 10. Telling the Story; 11. The Responsible Society; 12. The Home We Build Together; Part Three: Where Next?; 13. The Uses of Covenant; 14. Who Am I?; 15. Face-to-Face, Side-by-Side; 16. Civility; 17. Multiculturalism or Tolerance?; 18. Mending the Broken Family; 19. A Religious Defence of Liberal Democracy; 20. A Time to Build; Notes; Suggestions for Further Reading; Index.
