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Social Science General

Us, Them, and Others

Pluralism and National Identity in Diverse Societies

by (author) Elke Winter

Publisher
University of Toronto Press
Initial publish date
Nov 2011
Category
General, General
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780802096920
    Publish Date
    Nov 2011
    List Price
    $85.00
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780802096395
    Publish Date
    Oct 2011
    List Price
    $44.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781442661189
    Publish Date
    Oct 2011
    List Price
    $34.95

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Description

How do countries come to view themselves as being ‘multicultural’? Us, Them, and Others presents a dynamic new model for understanding pluralism based on the triangular relationship between three groups — the national majority, historically recognized minorities, and diverse immigrant bodies. Elke Winter's research illustrates how compromise between unequal groups is rendered meaningful through confrontation with real or imagined outsiders.

Us, Them, and Others sheds new light on the astonishing resilience of Canadian multiculturalism in the late 1990s, when multicultural policies in other countries had already come under heavy attack. Winter draws on analyses of English-language newspaper discourses and a sociological framework to connect discourses of pan-Canadian multicultural identity to representations of Quebecois nationalism, immigrant groups, First Nations, and the United States. Taking inspiration from the Canadian experience, Us, Them, and Others is an enticing examination of national identity and pluralist group formation in diverse societies.

About the author

Elke Winter is an associate professor of Sociology at the University of Ottawa. An alumna of the German National Merit Foundation, she also won the University of Ottawa’s 2010 Young Researcher of the Year Award.

Elke Winter's profile page

Awards

  • Winner, John Porter Prize awarded by the Canadian Sociological Association