Official multiculturalism, established as Canadian government policy in 1971, has drawn criticism from many scholars and journalists who view it as a potential threat to a strong, unified Canadian society. In this timely and original book, Phil Ryan examines the emergence and influence of these criticisms, which continue to provoke an anxiety he calls ""multicultiphobia."" Although Ryan argues that multicultiphobic discourse is often marred by important errors of fact and interpretation, a systematic inspection of news coverage and parliamentary debates reveals the persistent influence of these critiques and their underlying concerns.
Rather than simply dismissing multicultiphobia, Ryan acknowledges that critics of multiculturalism have identified issues about which Canadians need to talk. Does multiculturalism discourage adaptation and encourage 'cultural walls' between Canadians? Does it promote an 'anything goes' relativism? Finally, what do we - both as supporters and critics of multiculturalism - wish to make of Canada's ethnic diversity? Multicultiphobia perceptively tackles all of these questions by means of a sophisticated analysis that encourages a deeper understanding of the issues at the heart of multiculturalism.
By:
Phil Ryan
Imprint: University of Toronto Press
Country of Publication: Canada
Dimensions:
Height: 238mm,
Width: 158mm,
Spine: 22mm
Weight: 560g
ISBN: 9781442641464
ISBN 10: 1442641460
Pages: 279
Publication Date: 11 May 2010
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Primary
,
Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
"Table of contents Introduction Multiculturalism 4 Culture 10 Plan of this work 22 Why this approach? 27 PART I: Fin-de-siècle critiques of multiculturalism32 Chapter One: Classics of multicultiphobia32 Bibby's Mosaic madness32 Bissoondath's Selling illusions35 Gwyn's Nationalism without walls39 Granatstein's Who killed Canadian history? 45 A Summary of the ""Classics""47 Chapter Two: Multicultiphobia: A closer look 52 The primitive ontology of multicultiphobia52 Frozen and monolithic multiculturalism 59 Causality in the classics 65 The lure of the fairy-tale 69 Multicultiphobia and the scourge of political correctness 77 Chapter Three: Multiculturalism in Parliament, 1994-95 82 Bloc Québécois critiques of multiculturalism 83 Reform Party critiques 85 The Liberal response 97 The quality of the Parliamentary debate 103 Chapter Four: Multiculturalism in the News (1995) 108 Methodology 109 Thematic analysis 111 Conclusion 128 PART II: Multiculturalism after 911 129 Chapter 5: Multiculturalism, immigration, security 129 Stoffman and Canadian immigration policy 130 Collacott and the terrorist threat 134 Conclusion 137 Chapter 6: Parliament 2005-06: The ambiguous triumph of multiculturalism 139 Chapter 7: Multiculturalism in the News (2006) 148 Echoes of the ""classics""148 Echoes of 1995 themes152 Paper-by-paper analysis154 Conclusion168 PART III: What do we need to talk about? 169 Chapter 8: Multiculturalism and relativism 169 The problem of relativism170 Relativism 1173 Relativism 2180 Relativism 3184 Conclusion193 Chapter 9: Multiculturalism and society's basic needs 195 Values, or guns and jails? 198 What society do we want?209 What does this society need?210 Conclusion216 Chapter 10: How are we doing? 218 Multiculturalism and the welfare state219 Social cohesion221 Social interaction224 Conclusion232 Chapter 11: Sauce for the goose...? 235 Double standards...?236 ... What double standards?237 The solidarity principle241 Religious regulation246 Concluding thought251 PART IV: Update and Conclusion 252 Chapter 12: Immortal Multicultiphobia? 252 Recent multicultiphobia252 The Kenney factor254 A Personal Conclusion263 How do we need to talk?264 What do we want multiculturalism to be?273 Works Cited281 Notes336"
Phil Ryan is an associate professor in the School of Public Policy and Administration at Carleton University.
Reviews for Multicultiphobia
'Ryan's book will be of interest to a variety of readers, from political scientists and philosophers to policy-makers and the general public.' -- Chris Durante Journal of Religion & Culture, vol 23:2012
- Short-listed for The Canada Prize in the Social Sciences 2011 (Canada)
