A kin-state’s responsibility: Cultural identity, recognition, and the Hungarian status law

Abstract

In the last 30 years, many European states have assumed a form of responsibility for recognition concerning the cultural identity of the members of their kin-minority groups. Despite the increasing number of states assuming such special trans-sovereign duties relating to individuals who are neither citizens nor residents, and the endorsements given by the Council of Europe and the EU, a conceptual analysis and normative evaluation of identity recognition as a kin-state’s duty remains absent from the literature on liberal multiculturalism. Focusing on the case of the Hungarian Status Law, this article problematizes identity recognition as a kin-state’s responsibility, examining its legitimacy, place and limits in liberal multiculturalism. Against the current consensus in liberal multiculturalism, I argue that, although the primary responsibility for identity recognition lies with the home-state, a kin-state can complement the home-state’s duties.