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Political Science Social Policy

Finding Our Way

Rethinking Ethnocultural Relations in Canada

by (author) Will Kymlicka

Publisher
Oxford University Press
Initial publish date
May 1998
Category
Social Policy
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780195413144
    Publish Date
    May 1998
    List Price
    $98.00

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Description

Many people today believe that ethnocultural politics in Canada are spiralling out of control, with ever more groups in society making ever greater demands. Finding Our Way offers a more balanced view. Will Kymlicka argues that the difficulties involved in accommodating ethnocultural diversity are not insurmountable, and that Canadians have an impressive range of experience and resources on which to draw in addressing them. A crucial part of his argument is the distinction between the ethnic groups formed by immigration and the 'nations within' constituted by the Quebecois and Aboriginal peoples, whose existence predates that of the Canadian state. With respect to immigrant groups, he maintains that the 'multicultural' model of integration adopted by the federal government in 1971 has worked much better than is commonly thought, and can be adapted to new circumstances. The challenges of accommodating the self-government demands of national minorities are admittedly greater. Yet here too Kymlicka argues that we have all the experience we need: what we lack is the will to apply what we know. At a time when many Canadians appear to have lost confidence in our ability to work out fair and mutually beneficial solutions to ethnocultural conflicts, Finding Our Way makes an invaluable contribution to two critical national debates.

About the author

Will Kymlicka is the Canada Research Chair in Political Philosophy at Queen’s University. He is the author of seven books published by Oxford University Press, most recently Zoopolis: A Political Theory of Animal Rights (2011), co-authored with Sue Donaldson. His previous books include Multicultural Citizenship: A Liberal Theory of Minority Rights (1995) and Multicultural Odysseys: Navigating the New International Politics of Diversity (2007). In 2013, he delivered the HLA Hart Memorial Lecture at the University of Oxford on Animals and the Frontiers of Citizenship.

 

Will Kymlicka's profile page

Editorial Reviews

"Will Kymlicka...with this volume has made yet another major contribution to our self-understanding. His voice is civil, moderate, appeals to the evidence and is intended as a contribution to the rigorous debate we have not had about multiculturalism and our multinational condition... This is a valuable book."--Canadian Journal of Political Science

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