Explicitly comparative in its approach, Paradoxes of Cultural Recognition discusses central issues regarding multiculturalism in today's Europe, based on studies of Norway and the Netherlands. Distinguishing clearly the four social fields of the media, education, the labour market and issues relating to gender, it presents empirical case studies, which offer valuable insights into the nature of majority/minority relationships, whilst raising theoretical questions relevant for further comparisons.

With clear comparisons of integration and immigration policies in Europe and engagement with the questions surrounding the need for more culturally sensitive policies, this volume will be of interest to scholars and policy-makers alike.

Contents: Introduction, Halleh Ghorashi,Thomas Hylland Eriksen and Sharam Alghasi; Part 1 Uneasy Categories: Engaging with diversity: Europe between imagined homogeneity and enduring cultural difference, Ellie Vasta; Race and the Dutch: on the uneasiness surrounding racial issues in the Netherlands, Dienke Hondius; Should integration be the goal? A policy for difference and community, Knut Kjeldstadli; National identity and the sense of (non)belonging: Iranians in the United States and the Netherlands, Halleh Ghorashi. Part 2 Cultural Categories in Practice: Discrimination and cultural closure at work: evidence from 2 Dutch organizations, Hans Siebers; Ethno-nationalism and education, Joron Pihl; Avoiding culture and practising culturalism: labelling practices and paradoxes in Swedish schools, Ann Runfors; Disentangling culture as explanatory factor: the paradox of a client centred approach in social work, Marleen van der Haar; What difference does it make? Transnational networks and collective engagement among ethnic minorities in Norway, Jon Rogstad. Part 3 The Migrant's Positioning and the Public Space: The process of hybridization: cognition, emotion and experience among multicultural youngsters in 'Rudenga', East side Oslo, Viggo Vestel; 'Mix, just mix and see what happens': girls in a super-diverse Amsterdam neighbourhood, Marion den Uyl and Lenie Brouwer; Fallen angels: the end of the colourful community?, Elisabeth Eide and Anne Hege Simonsen; Rethinking national constellations of citizenship: situating the headscarf controversy in the Netherlands, Doutje Lettinga; Representations of the other in Norwegian debate programmes 1989–1997, Sharam Alghasi; From obsessive egalitarianism to a pluralist universalism? A normative epilogue, Thomas Hylland Eriksen; Index.

About the Editor: Sharam Alghasi is a PhD fellow at the University of Oslo, Norway
Thomas Hylland Eriksen is Professor of Social Anthropology and Research Director of CULCOM at the University of Oslo, Norway.
Halleh Ghorashi is Professor at the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam., The Netherlands.

Reviews: 'This volume compares multiculturalist reasonings with national realities, mainly in Norway and the Netherlands, and it thus cuts a critical edge. Focusing on two proverbially liberal welfare states and civil societies, it contrasts them by factors ranging from moral (or moralizing) public policies to popular(-izing) moral panics. Importantly, its well-grounded ethnographies locate themselves in current conceptual and globally comparative contexts.'
Gerd Baumann, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

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Introduction

Index