Multicultural Nationalism: Civilizing Difference, Constituting Community(Law and Society)

Generations of intellectuals have debated Canada's nationalquestion. Rather than join the debate, MulticulturalNationalism challenges its logic. The national question isself-defeating: attempts to constitute a Canadian political communitygenerate polarizing and depoliticizing deliberations. Gerald Kernermanengages with leading political theorists and analyzes policy,constitutional, and media documents in order to examine proposals forminority rights, multicultural citizenship, asymmetrical federalism,multinationalism, and group-based representation. Even as othercountries consider pursuing similar paths, Kernerman cautions againstusing Canada as a model since these proposals are themselvesmanifestations 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 theIntellectuals 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

About the Author :
Gerald Kernerman is assistant professor of politicalscience at York University and co-editor, with Philip Resnick, ofInsiders & Outsiders: Alan Cairns and the Reshaping of CanadianCitizenship.

Review :
What this analysis reveals is that when these debates become entangled with the question of Canadian unity, which they invariably have been, they become constrained by dichotomous thinking, produce political paralysis, and generate exclusion ... Of particular interest to constitutional and administration lawyers will be the discussion surrounding the constitutional deliberations at Meech Lake and Charlottetown, as well as the treatment of philosophical and political nature of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. - Martin Z.P. Oszynski (Saskatchewan Law Review, 2006, vol. 69) Kernerman's book is a good survey of the identity-citizenship-nationalism debates in Canada. Pithy summaries of the major theories and concepts informing the debates make this a useful introduction to the issues involved. The issues he addresses – of governing difference, of regulating divisiveness, of "creating" unity – are now central to the political cultures of many nations. As a reviewer from India, where the "unity in diversity" paradigm has been our governing political slogan even during the era of minoritarian, linguistic, and ethnic nationalisms and fragmentation, I appreciate Kernerman's attempts to chart a way between difference and unity, and between diversity and national integration. - Pramod K. Nayar, Department of English, University of Hyderabad, India (Canadian Ethnic Studies, vol. XXXVIII, no. 1)