A 'great' large family: understandings of multiculturalism among newcomers to Canada.
Refuge › Vol. 27 Nbr. 1, March 2010
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A 'great' large family: understandings of multiculturalism among newcomers to Canada.
Abstract
Analysts have taken positions either supporting or attacking multicultural policy, yet there is insufficient research concerning the public policy of multiculturalism as it is understood and practiced in the lives of Canadians. This analysis approaches multiculturalism as a text which is constituent of social relations within Canadian society. Data from the Regina Refugee Research Project are analyzed within Nancy Fraser's social justice framework to explore the manner in which multiculturalism and associated policies are understood and enacted in the lived experience of newcomers. Newcomers" accounts of multiculturalism are compared with five themes identified via textual analysis of the Canadian Multiculturalism Act--diversity, harmony, equality, overcorning barriers, and resource. Embedded within the accounts newcomers offered of Canadian multiculturalism are relations of ruling that can be understood within the context of struggles for recognition and social justice. Further research is needed to investigate the relational processes in which differing perceptions of and experiences with multiculturalism are embedded and to compare the present accounts with those of other groups of immigrants and Canadian-born. Resume Les analystes ont pris position soit pour ou contre la politique du multiculturalisme, mais il y a insuffisance de la recherche sur la politique publique du multiculturalisme tel qu'on le comprend et pratique dans la vie des Canadiens. Cette analyse aborde le multiculturalisme en tant que texte constitutif des relations sociales au sein de la societe canadienne. Des donnees statistiques du Regina Refugee Research Project sont analysees dans le cadre de justice sociale elabore par Nancy Fraser afin dexplorer la maniere dont le multiculturalisme et les politiques connexes sont comprises et adoptees dans le vecu des nouveaux arrivants. Les temoignages de nouveaux arrivants sur le multiculturalisme sont compares a cinq themes identifies par l'analyse textuelle de la Loi sur le multiculturalisme canadien--la diversite, l'harmonie, l'egalite, la suppression des obstacles, et l'ingeniosite. Les nouveaux arrivants integrent a leurs temoignages concernant le multiculturalisme canadien des relations de pouvoir qui peuvent etre comprises dans le contexte de luttes pour la reconnaissance et la justice sociale. D'autres recherches sont necessaires pour etudier les processus relationnels auxquels sont integrees differentes perceptions et experiences du multiculturalisme et comparer les temoignages actuels avec ceux d'autres groupes d'immigrants et natifs du Canada. [To me, multiculturalism means] opportunities for all groups, cultures, or persons to develop or act within their community. The governments try to treat everybody as part of a 'great' large family. Regina Refugee Study participant [Canada is not] a melting pot in which the individuality of each element is destroyed in order to produce a new and totally different element. It is rather a garden into which have been transplanted the hardiest and brightest flowers from many lands, each retaining in its new environment the best of the qualities for which it was loved and prized in its native land. The Right Honourable John Diefenbaker, former Canadian Prime Minister (1) Introduction Perhaps no Canadian policy initiative has greater potential relevance for the lives of newcomers to Canada than does multiculturalism. Multiculturalism has been both widely applauded and subjected to much criticism. One reason for this ambivalence may be the variety of meanings associated with multiculturali...See the full content of this document
