Critically compare two
alternative theoretical approaches to social and cultural diversity and bring
examples of their manifestations in everyday life and policy implementation
Alexander Paul Burton – w1622018
When choosing the topic
for this essay and deciding how best to
Critically compare two
alternative theoretical approaches to social and cultural diversity and bring
examples of their manifestations in everyday life and policy implementation
Alexander Paul Burton – w1622018
When choosing the topic
for this essay and deciding how best to critically compare two alternative
critical theories many ideas were considered from the rich range of examples
pertaining to social diversity in countless countries around the world.
In our own class during
the Semester, many people time and time again brought up Canada as a shining
example of a nation that has fully embraced and adhered to all of the
principles of Multiculturalism. Indeed, this is backed up by Kylmlicka (2012)
in his outline of research that found that Vietnamese immigrants were far more
successfully settled generally and politically in Canada than to those in
Boston, the United States of America.
However, instead of
lauding the successes of Canadas’s adoption of multiculturalism from the 1970s
to this very day and comparing it to another “less successful” adoption in
another country, this essay will consider the following:
1) First how multiculturalism
developed was adopted in Canada and the theory behind multiculturalism and;
2) Second, then compare this
to multiculturalism in Québec (a province of Canada) which adopts
“interculturalism” over multiculturalism.
By comparing different
outlooks on social diversity within a single country, it is hoped, will provide
a somewhat insightful and interesting comparison.
Canada, due to its rich
history, has an interesting societal makeup. First inhabited by humans
thousands of years ago with a rich inuit and First Nations culture that
flourished up until European explorers arrived in the early 1500s which has now
developed into a multicultural melting pot of British, French, European and
countless cultures from around the world.
From the 1500s onwards,
large parts of Canada and the United States were known as “New France” – an autonomous
colony that, albeit very small in population, still had all of the trappings of
what would be considered a “country” by today’s standards. For example, they
had their own currency, Royal Ensign (from the French monarchy) and more.
The legacy of French
influence including language and even a separate distinct legal system dominates
Canada to this day. In the early 1900s, the British unified Canadian North
America as the French were forced to relinquish all claims and ownership of
almost all large in Upper and Lower Canada.
This led to the creation
of what is now known as Québec, a province with distinct language and other
cultural features. Quebec sits within a federation of other provinces that are
largely solely English speaking (apart from parts of Ontario and other
However, even though
French culture, including Language and laws, which has existed in North America
for over 400 years, still didn’t have protection under law or was recognised as
an official language until a Royal Commission report was mandated in the 1970s
by Pierre Trudeau (Prime Minister).
It is hoped that this
short overview of the difference between Québec and other provinces of Canada
will allow different models of social diversity to be compared in this essay.
Part one: Multiculturalism in Canada and Federal
Multiculturalism as a
concept differs from other ideas about social and cultural diversity such as
theories of assimilation (which it is assumed leads to integration), promoting
equality (that difference doesn’t have a place in a unified society) and very liberal
multiculturalism where rights are extended to specific cultural or ethnic
groups (such as relaxing laws or sentences due to inherent traits and ideas
that mean that the group cannot be blamed for breaking laws).
A policy of
multiculturalism was officially adopted in Canada after the 1970s under Prime
Minister Pierre Trudeau after the publication of the Royal Commission on
Bilingualism and Biculturalism which, while primarily focussed upon Québec and
English speaking Canadians, opened up dialogue surrounding multiculturalism.
This is significant due to
the fact that Canada, as explained in the first section above, has a rich
history and has been a place where many different cultures have combined. By
multiculturalism being accepted by the state, differences are seen as a
“resource” and people throughout Canada, especially the Quebecois, have their
French and First Nations language protected.
Canada then passed the
following legislation and government policy (Weinstock, 2013) which has
contributed to its current state of a Canadian “brand” of multiculturalism:
1. The Canadian
Multiculturalism Act that was passed in 1988 that aimed to preserve and protect
multiculturalism in Canada
2. The Charter of Rights and
Freedoms, passed in 1982, which didn’t overtly protect multiculturalism but did
bring claims from citizens against some of the homogeneity in previous
3. Anti-discrimination and
is therefore, according to Weinstock, a set of policies and more of a
standpoint rather than a political outlook and according to all indicators
Canada has done a good job at implementing it (this is explored in the latter
part of this section).
By recognising other
cultures other than the dominant “British” or “English” culture in Canada,
multiculturalism developed and Canada began to see waves of migration and
acceptance of other cultures.
Benhabib (2002) in h