Assessing Multiculturalism in Global Comparative Perspective by Abu-Laban, Yasmeen; Gagnon, Alain-G; Tremblay, Arjun;

Short description:

In Assessing Multiculturalism in Global Comparative Perspective a group of leading scholars come together in a multidisciplinary collection to assess multiculturalism through an international comparative perspective.

Long description:

In Assessing Multiculturalism in Global Comparative Perspective, a group of leading scholars come together in a multidisciplinary collection to assess multiculturalism through an international comparative perspective.

Multiculturalism today faces challenges like never before, through the concurrent rise of populism and white supremacist groups, and contemporary social movements mobilizing around alternative ideas of decolonization, anti-racism and national self-determination Taking these challenges head on, and with the backdrop that the term multiculturalism originated in Canada before going global, this collection of chapters presents a global comparative view of multiculturalism, through both empirical and normative perspectives, with the overarching aim of comprehending multiculturalism’s promise, limitations, contemporary challenges, trajectory and possible futures. Collectively, the chapters provide the basis for a critical assessment of multiculturalism’s first 50 years, as well as vital insight into whether multiculturalism is best equipped to meet the distinct challenges characterizing this juncture of the 21st century.

With coverage including the Americas, Europe, Oceania, Africa and Asia, and thematic coverage of citizenship, religion, security, gender, Black Lives Matter and the post-pandemic order, Assessing Multiculturalism in Global Comparative Perspective presents a comprehensively global collection that is indispensable reading for scholars and students of diversity in the 21st century.

"What is multiculturalism? How is it different from ideologies and movements that resemble it but are nevertheless quite different? What are its origins and patterns of development in different countries? Why has it provoked hostility in some societies and been received with great relief in others? Has it exhausted its constructive potential and become irrelevant, or does it have a future, and of what kind? While much has been written on multiculturalism, some of the questions listed above and others associated with them have received relatively little attention. This well-constructed and skilfully edited collection of fine essays, each probing a particular aspect of multiculturalism, fills the gap and deserves a warm welcome."
Bhikhu Parekh, House of Lords

"Assessing Multiculturalism in Global Comparative Perspective grounds multiculturalism in history and theory, while exploring its contemporary relevance in light of challenges from the ethnonationalist right and its strained relationship with progressive emancipatory movements. The book’s outstanding contributors offer a uniquely global perspective on some of the most pressing problems confronting diverse polities the world over. Highly recommended for all students of contemporary membership politics."
Triadafilos Triadafilopoulos, Associate Professor, University of Toronto

"This visionary collection provides a timely global comparative diagnostic on multiculturalism’s challenges and possible futures in the post-pandemic era. The diverse set of co-editors proposes a useful framework of analysis in their introduction, highlighting the origins, expansion and critiques of multiculturalism. They brought together a particularly talented group of experts whose analyses will inform both scholars and the general public interested in the future of recognition and diversity in a range of societies. Together, they deploy enlightening perspectives that illuminate our worlds as they evolve. What a feat!!!"
Michèle Lamont, Harvard University, author of Who Matters: How to Define Worth in our Divided World

Table of Contents:

Introduction: Reflecting on Multiculturalism at its Semicentennial: Over the Hill or Just Getting Started?  Part 1: Multiculturalism and Citizenship  1. Multiculturalism and Citizenization: Past and Future  2. Multiculturalism and Inclusive Democracy: Canadian Multiculturalism and Immigrant Citizenship  3. Multicultural Citizenship in Singapore  Part 2: Multiculturalism, History and Intersectionality  4. Multiculturalism and Decolonization  5. Multiculturalism in the Post-Colony: Shadows of Agamben in South Africa  6. Language and Multiculturalism in the United States  7. Framing Diversities: European approaches to Minorities-within Minorities  Part 3: Multiculturalism, Religion and Secularism  8. Interculturalism and the Fair Management of Diversity in Multinational Democracies: The Contribution of Quebec-Canada Dynamics  9. Multiculturalism: The Place of Religion and State-Religion Connections  10. Hinduizing Nation: Shifting Grounds of Secularism, Diversity and Citizenship  Part 4: Multiculturalism’s Meaning and Value  11. Oh Canada, Your Home’s on Native Land: Narratives of the Missing in a Multicultural Home  12. Black Lives Matter, Social Justice, and the Limits of Multiculturalism  13. Hungary and the Paradoxes of Illiberal Anti-Multiculturalism  Part 5: Multiculturalism, Pandemic. Populism and the Political Right  14. Rethinking Multiculturalism under a Pandemic Crisis  15. Imperiled Multiculturalism? COVID-19, Racism and Nation-Building in Australia  16. Immigration, Multiculturalism and Tolerance: Canada’s Two Images  Conclusion: Towards a New Diversity Politics for the 21st Century? Building on Multiculturalism through Solidarity