Legitimizing Neoliberalism Rather than Equality: Canadian Multiculturalism in the Current Reality of North America
This article argues that the multiculturalism policy and its implicit link to immigration policy have been instrumental in redefining a Canadian imaginary in the 1970s and early 1980s. Criticism of multiculturalism has ranged from a conservative perspective believing that the policy is divisive and...
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| Format: | article |
| Status: | Published version |
| Publication Date: | 2018 |
| Country: | México |
| Institution: | Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México |
| Repository: | Memoria Institucional CISAN, Repositorio Institucional, UNAM |
| Language: | English |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:ru.micisan.unam.mx:123456789/19888 |
| Online Access: | https://ru.micisan.unam.mx/handle/123456789/19888 |
| Access Level: | Open access |
| Keyword: | CIENCIAS SOCIALES Demography International relations 5 multiculturalism national identity national unity immigration policy Canada-U.S. relations continental integration security agenda multiculturalismo identidad nacional unidad nacional política migratoria relaciones Canadá-Estados Unidos integración continental agenda de seguridad Demografía Relaciones internacionales |
| Summary: | This article argues that the multiculturalism policy and its implicit link to immigration policy have been instrumental in redefining a Canadian imaginary in the 1970s and early 1980s. Criticism of multiculturalism has ranged from a conservative perspective believing that the policy is divisive and has gone too far, to a postcolonial critique emphasizing that the policy has not gone far enough to de-marginalize non-white Canadians experiences. Adding to this wide ranging criticism, this article suggests that in the last two decades, multiculturalism has abandoned its perceived inclusionary framework in favor of a commodification paradigm. Multiculturalism was championed as a competitive advantage in the discussion of North American free trade and integration. Following the events of September 11, 2001, multiculturalism has been simultaneously framed as a security risk and a casualty. In the new North American reality of economic integration and security cooperation, multiculturalism and immigration policies have been coopted into a neoliberal rationality,legitimizing security and prosperity rather than diversity and equality. |
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