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Will Kymlicka OC FRSC
Kymlicka in 2008
Born	1962 (age 62–63) London,Ontario, Canada
Spouse	Sue Donaldson
Awards	Officer of the Order of Canada (2023) Killam Prize (2004) Pierre Chauveau Medal (2001)
Education
Education	Queen's University (BA) University of Oxford (DPhil)
Thesis	Liberal equality and cultural community (1987)
Doctoral advisor	G. A. Cohen
Philosophical work
Era	Contemporary philosophy
Region	Western philosophy
School	Modern liberalism
Institutions	Queen's University Central European University
Doctoral students	Omid Payrow Shabani
Main interests	Animal ethics Citizenship Minority rights Multiculturalism Political philosophy
Notable works	Zoopolis: A Political Theory of Animal Rights (co-authored withSue Donaldson, 2013)
Notable ideas	Multicultural citizenship Political theory of animal rights Societal culture (a culture which provides its members with meaningful ways of life across the range of human activities)
Website	www.willkymlicka.ca

William KymlickaOC FRSC (/ˈkɪmlɪkə/KIM-lih-kə; born 1962)^[1] is a Canadianpolitical philosopher best known for his work onmulticulturalism andanimal ethics. He is currentlyProfessor of Philosophy andCanada Research Chair in Political Philosophy atQueen's University at Kingston, and Recurrent Visiting professor in the Nationalism Studies program at theCentral European University inBudapest, Hungary. For over 20 years, he has lived avegan lifestyle, and he is married to the Canadian author andanimal rights activistSue Donaldson.^[2][3]

Kymlicka received hisB.A. (Honours) inphilosophy andpolitical studies fromQueen's University in 1984, and hisD.Phil. in philosophy fromOxford University in 1987, under the direction ofG. A. Cohen. He has written extensively on multiculturalism and political philosophy, and several of his books have been translated into other languages. Kymlicka has held professorships at a variety of different universities in Canada and abroad, and has also worked as an advisor to theGovernment of Canada.^[4]

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One of his main concerns throughout his work is providing aliberal framework for the just treatment of minority groups, which he divides into two basic categories:polyethnic or immigrant groups, and national minorities (such as the CanadianQuébécois, or theMāori ofNew Zealand). He lists criteria for national minorities or "minority nations":present at founding;

• prior history of self-government;
• common culture;
• common language;
• governing selves through institutions.

By these criteria, the two "minority nations" in Canada are theIndigenous peoples in Canada and the Québécois. Kymlicka argues that such minority groups deserve unique rights from the state by the nature of their unique role and history within the national population.

Polyethnic groups are less deserving of such rights since they come to the state voluntarily and thus have some degree of responsibility tointegrate to the norms of their new nation. This does not mean that they are not entitled to any rights as Kymlicka argues that all cultural minorities have a right to choose their own lives, but it does mean that they are not entitled to the same level of group rights which minority nations would be entitled to. Kymlicka makes various exceptions such as the problems faced by refugees, whether from conflict or poverty, and by such minority groups such as African-Americans (whose heritage in America clearly did not begin voluntarily) and argues that their needs with regards to cultural group-specific rights should be considered on a special basis.

InMulticultural Citizenship (1995), Kymlicka argues that group-specific rights are consistent with liberalism, and are particularly appropriate, if not outright demanded, in certain situations. He defines three such group-specific rights: special group representation rights (such as affirmative action policies in politics); self-government rights; and polyethnic rights (such as the policy exemptingSikhs from having to wear motorcycle helmets).

A distinction that Kymlicka draws, which is crucial to his liberal defence of group-specific rights for minorities, is between external protection and internal restrictions. Kymlicka argues that external protections between groups may be justified in order to promote equality (but they must not allow for oppression or exploitation, as inapartheid in South Africa). Internal restrictions, however, cannot be justified from a liberal perspective, insofar as they restrict a person's autonomy, though they may be granted in certain cases to national minorities.

Brian Barry argues that Kymlicka's views are not liberal at all, in the sense that they are not universalist in nature and that they allow for cultural relativism. Barry further accuses Kymlicka of posing a false choice between liberalism as autonomy and liberalism as tolerance, further asserting that claims for cultural rights and for equality of treatment are incompatible.^[5] Young Kim provides an interesting comparison of their two views on multiculturalism and the limits of liberalism.^[6]

For Kymlicka, the standard liberal criticism, which states that group rights are problematic because they often treat individuals as mere carriers of group identities, rather than autonomous social agents, is overstated or oversimplified. The actual problem of minorities and how they should be viewed in liberal democracies is much more complex. There is a distinction between good group rights, bad group rights, and intolerable group rights.

• Bad group rights (internal restrictions) are rules imposed by the group upon intragroup relations. They most often take the form of the group restricting the liberty of individual members in the name of group solidarity. Indigenous groups try to protect themselves from women's movements on the basis that they threaten the social and traditional role of indigenous populations. He contends that may raise the danger of individual oppression. Internal restrictions can be used to uphold violent, dominant, absolutist systems. Legally-imposed internal restrictions are thus bad and almost always unjust, not to mention that they go against liberal ideals.
• Good group rights (external protections) involve intergroup relations. Indigenous groups need protection in terms of their nationals identities by limiting the vulnerability of that group to the decisions of external groups or society. Therefore, they should have the right to their own taxation, health care, education, and governance.

The bookZoopolis, bySue Donaldson and co-authored with Kymlicka, explores the state ofanimal rights for different categories of animals.

Donaldson and Kymlicka believe thatabolitionism is an inadequate response to both the ethical and practical challenges of living fairly and constructively with other animals.

Donaldson and Kymlicka suggest that animals should be characterized through three categories, serving to determine the nature of the laws and politics that should protect those animals.Domesticated animals should be given a kind of adjusted co-citizenship in which their best interest and preferences would be taken into account. Donaldson and Kymlicka defend the end of their use, advocating for avegan position, but they reject extinctionism with regards to those animals that are currently bred by humans. Wild animals should be granted sovereignty on their land enough so that they can sustain their way of living and prosper. Donaldson and Kymlicka support some moderate forms of intervention to reducewild animal suffering, and they claim that more significant courses of action should be aiming at keeping wild animals able to lead their lives. "Liminal" animals, those that are not domesticated but live in urban, suburban, or industrial areas (such as mice, pigeons and insects), should be treated as denizens of human communities.^[7]

• In 2004, Kymlicka was awarded theKillam Prize by theCanada Council for the Arts
• Multicultural Citizenship was awarded the Macpherson Prize by the Canadian Political Science Association, and the Ralph Bunche Award by the American Political Science Association
• He is a Fellow of theRoyal Society of Canada, and of theCanadian Institute for Advanced Research
• From 2004 to 2006, he was the President of theAmerican Society for Political and Legal Philosophy
• In 2014 Kymlicka was awarded an honorary doctorate from thePhilosophy Institute of theUniversity of Leuven.
• In 2021, Kymlicka received thePierre Chauveau Medal.^[8]
• He was named anOfficer of the Order of Canada in 2023.^[9][10]

• Zoopolis: A Political Theory Of Animal Rights (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011).ISBN 0-19-959966-1
• "Immigration, Multiculturalism, and the Welfare State" (Ethics & International Affairs, Volume20.3, Fall 2006)
• Politics in the Vernacular: Nationalism, Multiculturalism, Citizenship (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001).ISBN 0-19-924098-1
• Finding Our Way: Rethinking Ethnocultural Relations in Canada (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998).ISBN 0-19-541314-8
• Multicultural Citizenship: A Liberal Theory of Minority Rights (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995).ISBN 0-19-829091-8
• Contemporary Political Philosophy: An Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990–2001).ISBN 0-19-878274-8
• Liberalism, Community, and Culture (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989–1991).ISBN 0-19-827871-3

• Contributions to liberal theory
• List of vegans

• Media related toWill Kymlicka at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website
• Will Kymlicka publications indexed byGoogle Scholar

• 1962 births
• Living people
• 21st-century Canadian philosophers
• Alumni of the University of Oxford
• American animal rights scholars
• Animal ethicists
• Canadian political philosophers
• Canadian veganism activists
• Canada Research Chairs
• Academic staff of Central European University
• Queen's University at Kingston alumni
• Academic staff of Queen's University at Kingston
• Activists from Ontario
• Wild animal suffering writers
• Writers from London, Ontario
• Writers from Kingston, Ontario
• Scholars of nationalism
• Corresponding fellows of the British Academy
• Officers of the Order of Canada

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