Social Theory - an Historical Analysis of Canadian Socio-cultural Policies, ‘race’ and the ‘other’: A Case Study of Social and Spatial Segregation in Montreal

Canadian society differs from the United States. In particular, a central theme is the problem of reconciling Quebec nationalist aspirations within the economic union of Canada, and its English speaking majority. While the U.S. solution to ‘ethnic’ diversity has officially been the ‘melting pot’ model, the Canadian approach has formally been the recognition of diversity and group rights within the contemporary policy of ‘multiculturalism’. The policy emerged from a national debate that attempted to conciliate the French Quebec population, but it resulted in the eventual recognition of the ‘Other’ groups. The book examines the Canadian socio-cultural policies of immigration and ‘multiculturalism’, and the impact on socio-economic and spatial differentiation in Canadian society. The case study is Montreal. The main objectives of the volume are to illustrate levels of stratification within Canadian society and to analyse it within a historical and material framework. The book ultimately examines the state of contemporary ‘race relations’ in the city. The book offers a critical theoretical framework and assesses various conceptual schools of thought pertaining to issues of social and spatial segregation, and conceptual questions such as the construction of ‘race’ and ‘ethnicity’ and the role of the state in implementing social policies.