Culture, history, and a kin-state's obligations: a liberal evaluation of the hungarian status law

• Main Author: Udrea, A M
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 01-01-2011
• Subjects: Citizenship; Culture

As a result of an arbitrary drawing of borders, most states today have forcefully incorporated groups which identify by culture and history with the states that border their 'new' home-states. For this reason, such groups are referred to as kin-minority groups. What distinguishes some European kin-minorities from those around the world is the response of their kin-states to their living situations. In the last decades, many European kin-states adopted policies known as Status Laws. Even though there are substantive differences among them, many of these states assumed an obligation to support the cultural flourishing of their kin-minority groups. The case-study of my dissertation is the Hungarian Status Law, which represents the response of the Hungarian state to its kin-minority groups. This dissertation examines the relationship between a state's duty and individuals' cultural membership in the context of kin-minority groups. Precisely, it assesses the importance of culture and history for allocating a kin-state's responsibility and defining the standard of care for its kin-minority groups. The inquiry shows that a kin-state's obligations challenge the liberal responses to the accommodation of cultural minorities in plural societies, disputing the allocation of responsibility, the standard of care and the relationship between a state's cultural duties and citizenship. First, I explore the role of history and culture in generating culture-related responsibilities beyond the borders of a state. Liberal theories unanimously contain such duties within a state's borders and tie them to citizenship. Contrary to such theories, I argue that history and cultural membership may generate obligations beyond a state's borders in the case of kin-minority groups. Second, the enquiry focuses on the impact of the kin-state's involvement upon the accommodation of minority cultural groups. The analysis shows that a kin-state's involvement fosters a better accommodation of its kin-minority groups within their home-states. I argue that a kin-state's obligations complement the home-state's multiculturalism.