On Toleration

Castle Lecture Series

by Michael Walzer

What kinds of political arrangements enable people from different national, racial, religious, or ethnic groups to live together in peace? In this book one of the most influential political theorists of our time discusses the politics of toleration. Michael Walzer examines five "regimes of toleration" -from multinational empires to immigrant societies- and describes the strengths and weaknesses of each regime, as well as the varying forms of toleration and exclusion each fosters. Walzer shows how power, class, and gender interact with religion, race, and ethnicity in the different regimes and discusses how toleration works- and how it should work- in multicultural societies like the United States.

Walzer offers an eloquent defense of toleration, group differences, and pluralism, moving quickly from theory to practical issues, concrete examples, and hard questions. His concluding argument is focused on the contemporary United States and represents an effort to join and advance the debates about "culture war," the "politics of difference," and the "disuniting of America." Although he takes a grim view of contemporary politics, he is optimistic about the possibiliity of coexistence: cultural pluralism and a common citizenship can go together, he suggests, in a strong and eqalitarian democracy.

Genres: Philosophy, Politics, Nonfiction, History, Political Science, Race, Sociology

126 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Michael Walzer is a Jewish American political philosopher and public intellectual. A professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, he is editor of the political-intellectual quarterly Dissent. He has written books and essays on a wide range of topics, including just and unjust wars, nationalism, ethnicity, economic justice, social criticism, radicalism, tolerance, and political obligation and is a contributing editor to The New Republic. To date, he has written 27 books and published over 300 articles, essays, and book reviews in Dissent, The New Republic, The New York Review of Books, The New Yorker, The New York Times, and many scholarly journals

Reviews

[Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short but rich discussion of the meaning of toleration and of the conditions under which a diversity of race, ethnicity, religion and culture flourishes by political philosopher Michael Walzer. He discusses several historical "regime types" that have facilitated tolerance to various degrees, as well as practical issues facing modern societies.

At times, Walzer comes across as a bit dismissive of objections to liberal tolerance and he is (particularly in light of recent events) maybe a bit too sanguine about its eventual triumph. But this book seems just as timely as when it was published (about 20 years ago), if not more so. Walzer also, notably, argues that tolerance and multiculturalism go hand-in-hand with a commitment to greater economic equality, cutting across an often acrimonious debate in modern left/liberal political arguments.

[Shawn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Walzer admits that he doesn't know or discuss South America, or Africa, or the Middle East. So, basically, this whole book is low-key shoddy, 'half-assed', and the information is elementary, obvious, & mild. It's like someone choosing to describe the colors of rainbow: This one is a mix of blue & green, and this one over here resembles yellow. Like, wow, thanks Walzer for breaking that down. Really needed to read a book on that.

A very short book and even then I was skimming, it felt too long after p.50. Substitute a solid, profound maxim or adage for this book and you'll be better off. It comes in tones that are too abstract & general, as if he were trying to write for posterity. It hardly gets specific, only with Amish & Hasidic communities (it barely mentions Mormons), it doesn't reveal any sensibility for Islamic communities (so it completely leaves out Iran, Malaysia, et. al.), it says nothing about the vast history & nature of China, it has nothing to say for all of Latin America, it entirely leaves out India, and it has so little compassion, attention, or respect for indigenous peoples. I don't recommend this and only applaud its good intentions.

[Rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is dated in an unfortunate way—no fault of the author, because who in the 90s could have predicted our current U.S. cultural-political would fracture so badly. When this was written more people embraced multiculturalism, and the author, to his credit, spelled out the dark threat of resentment that could emerge from affirmative action policies. Walzer also gives a philosophical justification for governments not ‘tolerating’ intolerant organizations, if they are political in nature (rather than social or religious).

The epilogue is entirely focused on the United States, and was in many ways the most interesting and frustrating section.

But my biggest complaint with the book is the author’s refusal to tell stories, give specific examples. It is a short book, focused on typologies, but that makes for foggy reading.

An important topic, I just wish the text had risen to meet it.

[Luca Gatto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Walzer riesce nel suo libro a dare un quadro chiaro ed esaustivo del concetto di tolleranza già avanzato da Locke. Il tema viene affrontato con grande capacità definendo il quadro concettuale e le problematiche insite nella tolleranza (tollerare gli intolleranti?). Poco da dire se non che è un libro assolutamente da leggere e capire.

[Sydney]

A succinct and engaging primer on the theories of toleration in Europe and North America. Walzer clarifies many of the contextual political differences between types of prominent regimes of toleration across time and space.

[Pol Viñas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Molt ben explicada la tensió entre individu i comunitat a l'hora de tolerar. Potser massa simplista en algun moment quan analitza casos però té bastants bons punts. En algun moment m'ha recordat una mica a l'ètica de l'autenticitat de Taylor al caracteritzar les identitats actuals.

[John Heiskell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read a book by him in college (Just and Unjust Wars). Some interesting concepts that really make you think.

[Don Barger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting read. An intriguing take on individualistic rights, politics, community, social systems, and toleration of opposing views.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

"This country is not only a pluralism of groups but also a pluralism of individuals; its regime of toleration is focused, as we have seen, on personal choices and lifestyles rather than on common ways of life. It is perhaps the most individualist society in human history. Compared to the men and women of any earlier, old-world country, we are all radically liberated. We are free to plot our own course; to plan our own lives; to choose a career, a partner (or a succession of partners), a religion (or no religion), a politics (or an anti-politics), a lifestyle (any style) - we are free to "do our own thing." Personal freedom and the radical forms of toleration that go with it are certainly the most extraordinary achievements of the "new order of the ages" celebrated on the Great seal of the United States. The defense of this freedom against puritans and bigots is one of the enduring themes of American politics and makes for its most zestful moments; the celebration of this freedom, and of the individuality and creativity it allows, is one of the enduring themes of our literature."

[Mz · Rating 4 out of 5]

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