Immigration, Racial and Ethnic Studies in 150 Years of Canada: Retrospects and Prospects provides a wide-ranging overview of immigration and contested racial and ethnic relations in Canada since confederation with a core theme being one of enduring racial and ethnic conflict.

Canada is a country of immigrants of different ethnic origins. This is the first volume that provides the demographic profile vital to an understanding of this country. Twenty-five of the top demographers in Canada draw upon 1986 and 1981 census figures and social surveys.

"Ethnicity, write J.W. Berry and J.A. Laponce in their introduction to this volume, is likely to be to the twenty-first century what class was to the twentieth; that is, a major source of tension and political conflict. However, ethnicity is also increasingly likely to be a source of inspiration and diversification within society." "Because of the rapidly developing importance of ethnicity and culture in Canada, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Ministry of Multiculturalism and Citizenship undertook in 1991 a project to review research on the subject. This volume, in nineteen chapters, is the record of the findings. Papers cover such topics as demography, political philosophy, history, anthropology, sociology, media studies, literature, language learning, education, and ethnic and multicultural attitudes." "Looking back to the Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, mandated in 1963, the editors point out that the terminology has changed radically, and that the evolution from biculturalism to multiculturalism has clarified not only the political agenda but the research agenda as well. An insistent theme recurs throughout this volume: multiculturalism is taken increasingly as being a characteristic of Canadian society as a whole, rather than a concept focused exclusively on new Canadians." "While the Canadian population has always been ethnically diverse, only recently has the diversity been systematically analysed. Ethnic and multicultural studies are remarkably well developed in Canada, the editors conclude. However, they point out one shortcoming more apparent in some fields than others: we often know quite well how the dominant group views a minority, but we often lack knowledge of the reverse attitudes and opinions. Berry and Laponce recommend that we replace one-way mirrors with windows, preferably open windows."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved