Monday Book: Is Multiculturalism an Excuse for Forced Marriages? ; Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory by Bhikhu Parekh (Macmillan Press, Pounds 14.99)

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IT COULD be argued that everything about Bhikhu Parekh's book is based on a huge mistake, from the title to the last detail of its intricate argument. The idea of multiculturalism depends, obviously, on their being things called cultures. That is, people usually belong to communities of belief and custom which possess internal coherence, clear boundaries, and enough longevity for those beliefs to be thought "traditional".

There are, I believe, good reasons for thinking that this view of culture is mistaken - an error almost as gross, albeit less deadly, as thinking that humans divide into things called races. Indeed, talking about "cultural diversity" has often become a …