University of British Columbia Press
Multicultural Nationalism
Civilizing Difference, Constituting Community
9780774810012
9780774810005
Distributed for University of British Columbia Press
Multicultural Nationalism
Civilizing Difference, Constituting Community
Generations of intellectuals have debated Canada’s national question. Rather than join the debate, Multicultural Nationalism challenges its logic. The national question is self-defeating: attempts to constitute a Canadian political community generate polarizing and depoliticizing deliberations. Gerald Kernerman engages with leading political theorists and analyzes policy, constitutional, and media documents in order to examine proposals for minority rights, multicultural citizenship, asymmetrical federalism, multinationalism, and group-based representation. Even as other countries consider pursuing similar paths, Kernerman cautions against using Canada as a model since these proposals are themselves manifestations of nationalist contestation.
Table of Contents
1) Introduction: The Bind That Ties
2) Confounding Debates
3) Just Nationalism? Individual versus Collective Rights
4) Decoding Deep Diversity
5) Nationalism Disentangled: The New Treason of the Intellectuals
6) The Arithmetic of Canadian Citizenship
7) Misrepresenting the Canadian Conversation
8) Civil Eyes: Seeing "Difference Blind"
9) There’s No Place Like Home
Notes
Bibliography
Index