Multiculturalism, Human Rights, and Cultural Relativism: Canadian Civic Leaders Discuss Women's Rights and Gay and Lesbian Rights

Although the relationship among multiculturalism, human rights and cultural relativism is much discussed by academics, there is very little, if any, information on how ordinary citizens think through these concepts. This paper investigates the attitudes of 78 civic leaders in one multicultural society, Canada, to these concepts by asking them the questions, ‘Should all religious or ethnic groups have to support women's/gays’ rights?’ The choice …