Ethno Cultural Groups And Visible Minorities In Canadian Politics

The studies in this volume examine the nature and extent of their participation in Canadian politics, in both political parties and the House of Commons. While these groups feel marginalized, they believe strongly in the objectives of democracy and want to participate in a Canada that realizes those ideals more successfully.

Electing a Diverse Canada presents the most extensive analysis to date of the electoral representation of immigrants, minorities, and women in Canada. Covering eleven cities, as well as Canada's Parliament, it breaks new ground by assessing the representation of diverse identity groups across multiple levels of government. Electoral representation is an important indicator of a democracy's health, and this book provides both a baseline for future research and an outline of the key challenges facing Canadian democracy.

A collection of new essays by a leading Canadian sociologist, this text covers a broad range of subjects on race and ethnicity in Canada: a demographic overview; human rights; policies on native people; multiculturalism; the politics of culture and language; ethnic identity and survival; the political economy of race and ethnicity; and gender and class.

Canada's policy of multiculturalism has been the object of ongoing debate since it was first introduced in 1971. Decades later, Canadians still seem uncertain about the meaning of multiculturalism. Detractors insist that government has not succeeded in discouraging immigrants and their descendants from preserving their cultures of origin, undercutting a necessary identification with Canada, while supporters argue that immigrant groups' abilities to influence their adjustments to Canada has strengthened their sense of belonging. Beyond what often seems to be a polarized debate is a broad spectrum of opinion around multiculturalism in Canada and what it means to be Canadian. The Multiculturalism Question analyzes the policy, ideology, and message of multiculturalism. Several of Canada's leading thinkers provide valuable insights into a crucial debate that will inevitably continue well into the future.

"Ethnicity, write J.W. Berry and J.A. Laponce in their introduction to this volume, is likely to be to the twenty-first century what class was to the twentieth; that is, a major source of tension and political conflict. However, ethnicity is also increasingly likely to be a source of inspiration and diversification within society." "Because of the rapidly developing importance of ethnicity and culture in Canada, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Ministry of Multiculturalism and Citizenship undertook in 1991 a project to review research on the subject. This volume, in nineteen chapters, is the record of the findings. Papers cover such topics as demography, political philosophy, history, anthropology, sociology, media studies, literature, language learning, education, and ethnic and multicultural attitudes." "Looking back to the Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, mandated in 1963, the editors point out that the terminology has changed radically, and that the evolution from biculturalism to multiculturalism has clarified not only the political agenda but the research agenda as well. An insistent theme recurs throughout this volume: multiculturalism is taken increasingly as being a characteristic of Canadian society as a whole, rather than a concept focused exclusively on new Canadians." "While the Canadian population has always been ethnically diverse, only recently has the diversity been systematically analysed. Ethnic and multicultural studies are remarkably well developed in Canada, the editors conclude. However, they point out one shortcoming more apparent in some fields than others: we often know quite well how the dominant group views a minority, but we often lack knowledge of the reverse attitudes and opinions. Berry and Laponce recommend that we replace one-way mirrors with windows, preferably open windows."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Annotation The collected writings of a leading authority on Canada's ethnic and linguistic diversity.

Ten essays on multiculturalism form a comprehensive picture of the problems and prospects of pluralism and mirror the nuanced issues which arise when theories and goals of cultural sensitivity confront real life.