Welfare Chauvinism

Solidarity in diverse societies: beyond neoliberal multiculturalism and welfare chauvinism

In the postwar period, projects of social justice have often drawn upon ideas of national solidarity, calling upon shared national identities to mobilize support for the welfare state. Several commentators have argued that increasing immigration, and the multiculturalism policies it often gives rise to, weaken this sense of national solidarity. This creates a potential “progressive’s dilemma”, ...

Cultural Chauvinism in Comparative Law

Literature to combat cultural chauvinism

F R O N T L I N E 8 5 HOW should readers and critics approach the idea of “Indian literature” – or, for that matter, “world literature”? This wide-ranging conversation explores that question. It also asks how a genuinely comparative study of the regional traditions in various Indian languages can be conceived. Within the context of these two questions, it delves into more general issues: Can li...

Taxonomic Chauvinism and the Methodologically Challenged

R concern has been raised over the existence of obvious taxonomic biases in contemporary literature on ecology, evolution, and conservation biology (Bonnet et al. 2002, Stein et al. 2002, Clark and May 2002a, 2002b). For example, Bonnet and colleagues (2002) show that that an apparent, albeit subliminal, bias toward homeothermic (endothermic) fauna affords research on these groups greater publi...

Taxonomic Chauvinism Revisited: Insight from Parental Care Research

Parental care (any non-genetic contribution by a parent that appears likely to increase the fitness of its offspring) is a widespread trait exhibited by a broad range of animal taxa. In addition to influencing the fitness of parent(s) and offspring, parental care may be inextricably involved in other evolutionary processes, such as sexual selection and the evolution of endothermy. Yet, recent w...