David Cameron's speech in Munich (February 2011) has been seen as a U-turn of the British approach to ethnic minorities and diversity ( particularly concerning Mus-lims and South Asians) and a clear rejection of multiculturalism, in the wake of the European terror attacks (Madrid 2004, London 2005). The heyday of multiculturalism is associated to Tony Blair's Premiership (1997-2007) and more generally to New Labour rule (1997-2010). After defining multiculturalism this paper will try and put it in a historical and philo-sophical perspective, that is to say as one of the latest offshoots of Utilitarianism within the general framework of Western liberalism. Revisiting Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill may help understand the notions of tolerance and political freedom that are part and parcel of the multicultural project.
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