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Erik Lundberg
SVEN
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Book chapter

Tolerance: An introduction to the concept, the research, and the anthology

2017Lundberg, E.In Lundberg, E. (Ed.), Mechanisms of tolerance: an anthology. Stockholm: The Living History Forum

What is this study about?

The chapter introduces tolerance as a concept and a field of research and discusses what being tolerant actually means. A central point of departure is that tolerance presupposes that we accept people, groups, opinions or actions that we simultaneously dislike or reject. The chapter presents key theoretical perspectives and previous research, and introduces the questions about the development of tolerance and its underlying mechanisms that are addressed in the anthology.

What did we find?

The research overview shows that tolerance is a more complex phenomenon than a generally positive attitude towards other people. It is important to distinguish tolerance from, for example, liking, openness and the absence of prejudice. The research also points out that tolerance is shaped through an interplay between individual characteristics, social experiences and the contexts in which people encounter groups, values and views that differ from their own.

Why does it matter?

Tolerance is a fundamental democratic principle because democratic societies contain people with different and sometimes incompatible views, values and ways of living. The democratically interesting question is therefore not only whether we accept what we like, but whether, and under what conditions, we accept what we actually dislike or oppose. A clear understanding of the concept of tolerance is therefore necessary both for studying tolerance empirically and for understanding its significance in a pluralist democratic society.

Citation

Lundberg, E. (2017) Tolerance: An introduction to the concept, the research, and the anthology. In Lundberg, E. (Ed.), Mechanisms of tolerance: an anthology. Stockholm: The Living History Forum 7–29

Research area

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