Despite decades of multicultural education policies, cultural minorities and the peoples of the First Nations continue to be marginalized in Canadian schools. In Education and the Politics of Difference, authors Ratna Ghosh and Ali A. Abdi expose the problematic constructions of difference in schooling contexts, where differences are either treated as surface issues that do not affect the lives of learners, or superficially celebrated in terms that do not question power relations in schools and society. This revised and expanded second edition engages the broad theories of multicultural and inclusive education, and provides case studies of Canadian multicultural education policies, such as the unique situation of Aboriginal education. With this discussion of how differences of race, class, gender, sexuality, and other differences are viewed — particularly in a post-9/11 world - this book extends the possibilities of a more open-minded global understanding and appreciation of difference.

The book closes with a discussion of the future of multicultural and inclusive education, envisioning a school system where difference is normalized and seen as a fundamental human trait essential for social and human well-being.

Ratna Ghosh is James McGill Professor and William C. Macdonald Professor at McGill University, where she was also Dean of the Faculty of Education. The recipient of several awards from national and international organizations, she was featured in Time magazine as one of “Canada’s Best in Education.”

Ratna Ghosh's profile page

Korbla P. Puplampu is Chair of the Department of Sociology at Grant MacEwan University. His areas of interest include: the global restructuring of agriculture and higher education; sociological theories and undergraduate education; theoretical and policy analyses of state and non-state institutions in social change; and identity politics in multicultural societies.

Ali A. Abdi's profile page

"This vital book fills a very real gap in the literature on multiculturalism. It makes a valuable contribution to the present discourse on difference in which diversity tends to be conflated and collapsed; in doing so, all differences great and small are flattened. Ghosh and Abdi do not go that route; their work is soundly grounded in theory for the social sciences, and extends the discussion, for example, by critiquing the evolution of Canadian multiculturalism policy, and critically analysing Aboriginal issues."— “Cecille DePass, University of Calgary

Cecille DePass, Associate Professor, Faculty of Education, University of Calgary