Ethnicity, Politics, and Public Policy

'All the essays contained in Ethnicity, Politics, and Public Policy discuss concrete issues involving real Canadians in actual situations and thus go beyond the usual ideological treatments which abound in the current literature. This is a more than welcome change. Each of these essays in its own way has put aside the ideological extremism in favour of an analysis of specific problems as they currently exist within a variety of different communities, institutions, and settings in Canada.' -- Cyril Levitt, Department of Sociology, McMaster University

Ten essays on multiculturalism form a comprehensive picture of the problems and prospects of pluralism and mirror the nuanced issues which arise when theories and goals of cultural sensitivity confront real life.

Canada has become a nation in which ethnic pluralism must be balanced with national unity. Focusing on information derived from case studies - documents, interviews, and participant observation - the ten essays in this collection introduce the reader to specific problems that arise in an ethnically diverse society.

The various essay address a wide range of issues. Original research into visible minority police, Haitian teachers in Quebec schools, and the matching of worker and patient/client ethnicities within health and social services sheds light on the complex situations faced in an increasingly pluralistic society. The intersection (or absence) of ethnic polities and ethnic political representation is also examined. An essay presenting the heterogeneous nature of the Canadian Hip-Hop scene counters reductive stereotypes, while studies of female genital operations and wife abuse in Muslim culture suggest ways of understanding traditions that radically break with the social norms of a liberal-democratic society in order to create and implement policy.

This richly textured volume offers a comprehensive illustration of the problems and prospects of pluralism, effectively mirroring the diversity of the issues that arise when theories and goals of cultural sensitivity confront current Canadian realities.