Introduction: reasonable tolerance

Theory and practice are often at odds. Yet there is something particularly strange in the way in which the received theory and the presumed practice of toleration in contemporary societies seem to go their separate ways. Theoretical statements on toleration posit at the same time its necessity in democratic societies, and its impossibility as a coherent ideal. In her introduction to a comprehensive collection on tolerance and intolerance in modern life, Susan Mendus aptly makes the point that the commitment that liberal societies have to toleration ‘may be more difficult and yet more urgent than is usually recognised’. In contrast with the urgency insisted on by the theory, the practice can appear complacent: liberal democratic societies seem to have accepted the need for the recognition and accommodation of difference without registering its depth. So much so that ‘practical’ people often just dismiss such toleration as an excess of permissiveness. The success of ‘zero tolerance’ as a slogan for a less forgiving society bears witness to the diffusion of such a mood in public opinion. This divergence between theory and practice is, however, more productive than it may at first appear. Arguably, much of the current literature on tolerance as an interpersonal attitude, and on toleration as a set of institutional arrangements for peaceful coexistence, has fully internalised it. Indeed, the present state of the theoretical debate reflects the attempt to come to terms with the transformations that the ideal, the virtue, and, to a certain extent, the institutions of toleration have undergone, as we increasingly operate in a multicultural environment. The present collection is part of such an ongoing conversation, by which we try to make the theory of toleration more relevant to its practice, and strive to inform the practice with some of the principles and ideas of the theory. In this introduction, we will briefly characterise the current debate, sketch both its main lines of development and some of its unresolved questions, and suggest, finally, how the chapters of this volume contribute to this debate. As has already been mentioned, the renewed interest in issues of toleration come from the attempt to adapt its vocabulary to the challenges posed MCKIN 1/10/2003 10:15 AM Page 1