ABSTRACT
In the theoretical debates on multiculturalism, the issue of the ontological value and status of the category of “religion” constitutes an important agenda. In these debates, the normative claims and assumptions of multiculturalism are questioned through the connection with secularism(s). The UK, which is demographically a post-migration society, is an important example that has been the source of the aforementioned debates and where these debates continue. Muslim identity politics, which has developed in connection with Islamophobia in the country, is the source of this situation. The ontological value and status of the category of “Muslim” itself, with the impact of the issues and demands raised by this mode of politics, is gaining an important place in theoretical debates about the normative-pluralist horizon of multiculturalism. Based on this fact and situation, this article focuses on the normative contribution of Tariq Modood, one of the pioneering theorists of “Bristol School of Multiculturalism” (BSM). Among the BSM theorists who ascribe an ontological value to the category of “Muslim”, Modood’s views are noteworthy in that they aim to increase the ontological value of this category and elevate its status. In this direction, Modood starts by defining Islamophobia as “cultural racism” and reaches the idea of a kind of “multicultural nationalism”. Ultimately, this article argues that Modood’s point has some internal tensions, but that his vision makes an important contribution to the debate on multiculturalism and secularism.