Often when a religious minority challenges mainstream Canadian<br>customs, the phrase "reasonable accommodation" and its<br>boundaries are at the centre of the ensuing debate. But what exactly is<br>reasonable accommodation? Does it achieve its goal of integrating the<br>rights of religious minorities with those of mainstream<br>society - or does it emphasize inequality?<br><br><i>Reasonable Accommodation</i> features eight interdisciplinary<br>essays addressing how reasonable accommodation is defined within Canada<br>and abroad through law and public discourse. These probing explorations<br>based on empirical studies and legal cases touch on current hot-button<br>topics such as women's right to wear the niqab in public,<br>religious diversity in prisons, and accommodating sexual diversity.<br>Woven through the chapters are questions and commentary about whether<br>there really is a religious majority in Canada, how the idea of<br>"shared values" obscures debate, and how tolerating<br>religious differences simply isn't enough to guarantee equality.<br><i>Reasonable Accommodation</i> provides a much-needed critical<br>assessment of this phrase and theorizes religious diversity and freedom<br>of religion beyond the meaning of "tolerance" as it<br>sometimes implies.<br><br>Combining perspectives from the fields of law, religious studies,<br>political science, philosophy and sociology, <i>Reasonable<br>Accommodation</i> is a must-read for professors, researchers, students<br>and policy-makers interested in religion and multiculturalism in<br>Canada.<b>Lori G. Beaman</b> is Canada Research Chair in the<br>Contextualization of Religion in a Diverse Canada, director of the<br><i>Religion and Diversity Project</i> and a professor in the<br>Department of Classics and Religious Studies at the University of<br>Ottawa.<br><br><b>Contributors:</b> Natasha Bakht, James A. Beckford,<br> Peter Beyer, Gary D. Bouma, Avigail Eisenberg, Solange Lefebvre,<br>Ole Riis, and Heather Shipley.