Accommodating ethnic diversity is a major challenge for all democratic nations and a topic that has attracted a great deal of attention in the last few decades. Within Quebec, a new approach has emerged that seeks a balance between the needs of minorities and those of the majority.

In Interculturalism, sociologist and historian Gérard Bouchard presents his vision of interculturalism as a model for the management of diversity. A pluralist approach which recognizes the existence of a cultural majority whose rights must also be acknowledged, interculturalism constitutes an important alternative to multiculturalism both in Canada and internationally. Written by one of Quebec’s leading public intellectuals and the co-chair of the Bouchard-Taylor Commission on reasonable accommodation, Interculturalism is the first clear and comprehensive statement in English of an approach being discussed around the world.

A translation of Bouchard’s award-winning French-language work, L’Interculturalisme: Un point de vue québécois, this book features a new foreword by philosopher Charles Taylor and an afterword by the author written specifically for the English-language edition.

Gérard Bouchard is professor, human sciences, Université de Québec à Chicoutimi, and the author of numerous books, including Quelques arpents d'Amérique : population, économie, famille au Saguenay, 1838-1971, which won the 2000 Francois-Xavier Garneau Medal, Canadian Historical Association. He holds a Canada Research Chair and was appointed to the French Legion of Honour in 2002.

Gérard Bouchard's profile page

Howard Scott is a Montreal literary translator who works with fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. His translations include works by Madeleine Gagnon, science-fiction writer Élisabeth Vonarburg, and Canada’s Poet Laureate, Michel Pleau. Scott received the Governor General’s Literary Award for his translation of Louky Bersianik’s The Euguelion. The Great Peace of Montreal of 1701, by Gilles Havard, which he co-translated with Phyllis Aronoff, won the Quebec Writers’ Federation Translation Award. A Slight Case of Fatigue, by Stéphane Bourguignon, another co-translation with Phyllis Aronoff, was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award. Howard Scott is a past president of the Literary Translators’ Association of Canada.

Howard Scott's profile page

Charles Taylor, professor emeritus at McGill University, is an internationally celebrated public philosopher who strives to bridge the gap between philosophical theories and political action. He is the author of many books, including Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity (1989), in which he attempts to articulate and to write a history of the “modern identity.” He continued this theme in his 1991 Massey Lecture, “The Malaise of Modernity.” In 2003, he was the first recipient of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Gold Medal for Achievement in Research, in 2007 he won the Templeton Prize, and in June 2008 he was awarded the Kyoto Prize in arts and philosophy. Charles Taylor is a Companion of the Order of Canada.

Charles Taylor's profile page

‘This book deserves to be read widely. In other words, this is an essential reading for anyone interested in a key question facing both Quebec and Canada.’

British Journal of Canadian History vol 30:01:2017

‘Interculturalism is an articulate, insightful, well-reasoned, and upbeat book… This translation of his book offers English Canadians an insightful and important window on the ethos and debates on cultural matters in Quebec, from a moderate but resolute Francophone perspective.’

University of Toronto Quarterly vol 86:03:2017