Covering has thus far been associated with assimilation. In the name of commonality, individuals are pressured to repress their particular individual identity and adjust to the general standards of society. Though one can speak in favour of assimilation in a society plagued with diversity, the covering undertaken by individuals comes with a price. For one thing, these individuals are usually members of non-ruling minorities whose endeavours to join-in demand much more personal sacrifice than that of majority members. Secondly, given the generally conceived positive aspects of assimilation, the agenda of assimilation covers for this assault on particular identities making a repressive reality pass as natural. Assimilation in this since is a form of magic if not seductive. I will seek to argue that covering is also identifiable when multiculturalism and its explicit agenda for the accommodation of minority groups is the over-all guiding norm. Firstly, multiculturalism is generally taken to be a theory that expounds toleration, pluralism and the tending to under-privileged minorities and thus can work magic and be just as seductive. Secondly, if group-based identities, especially minority religious ones, become the subject of accommodation, all in the name of multiculturalism, such a policy can be just as damaging to individuals as assimilation is. Multiculturalism as covering is particularly evident in nation states, and I will seek to demonstrate its essence and implications by focusing on the accommodation religious minorities in Israel.

Michael Karayanni is the Bruce W. Wayne Professor of Law at the Faculty of Law, Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Academic Director of the Center of the Study of Multiculturalism and Diversity. Prof. Karayanni held visiting positions at Georgetown Law Center, Melbourne Law School, Stanford Law School, Yale Law School and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.  His research interests are in private international law and inter-religious law, multiculturalism and civil procedure. Among his most recent publications is Conflicts in Conflict, A Conflict of Laws Case Study of Israel and the Palestinian Territories (Oxford University Press, 2014). Prof. Karayanni holds a S.J.D. degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and a Ph.D. degree from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

This event is free and open to the public, but seating may be limited. Lunch provided.