In his new book, liberalism and its discontents, John Rawlinson argues that a strong sense of national identity is actually a vital ingredient having a successful democratic, liberal state. He asks: Where do you want to anchor er identity? Is it in the group, an ethnic group, ind a religious group and so on? Or as cosmopolitans who care about everybody in the world equally? We'll always have special affections for our own town, our own community, our own country. But i don't think we're ever going to be able to care aboutEverybody in the world equal.
During an era of identity politics, culture wars and increasing awareness of the structural biases that contribute to global inequality, it’s easy to become pessimistic about the possibility of making diverse democracies work. Yascha Mounk is a writer and political scientist whose recent book, The Great Experiment: Why Diverse Democracies Fall Apart and How They Can Endure, offers analysis of how our fractured societies can acknowledge the injustices of the past, while moving forward towards conciliation and cooperation. Hosting the discussion is BBC journalist and broadcaster Ritula Shah.
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