Abstract

While in the Netherlands there are complaints about the „emptiness of a culture of tolerance“ we can find attempts to „surmount“ the concept of integration in France, because immigrants feel culturally neglected by the French tradition of republicanism with its „enforced cultural equalization“. A conceptual analysis of the central terms may help to see why from different points of view there seems to be a „lack of difference“. The paper entails a plea for tolerance seen as acceptance of individuals within their original culture but argues that group rights for minorities should be conceded only in special and rare cases.