The Value of Normative Models for Understanding Pluralism

Contemporary debates on nationalism, ethnicity, race, identity, and citizenship are largely shaped by the trends of the twentieth century and now wrestle with new problems that do not easily fit older models. There is a need to adapt theories to understand emerging social dynamics and new sites of power. When this is done, normative models and non-dualistic understandings of identity and citizenship best account for group dynamics such as identity politics, populism and situational identities formed in moments of crisis. Normative models also help understand the shift from permanent immigration to temporary migration and how groups relate to one another. The Canadian case can and should be used to understand shifting social dynamics and the importance of normative theories as well as opportunities for theorizing new understandings of identity and citizenship. Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1 E. Winter, "Beyond Binaries and Polarization? Rethinking Pluralist Inclusion in Immigrant Nations. Beyond Binaries and Polarization? Rethinking Pluralist Inclusion in Immigrant Nations," Nationalism and Ethnic Politics (2023); M. Lizotte, "A Diverse Minority of Intolerance: Ethnic Relations in a Multicultural Society," Nationalism and Ethnic Politics (2023); J. Kennedy and M. van Ginderachter, "The Use of Binaries in Nationalism Studies," National Identities 24, no. 5 (2022): 453–460; H. Winant, "Race and Race Theory," Annual Review of Sociology 26, no. 1 (2000): 169–185.2 S. Hall, "Encoding/Decoding," in Culture, Media, Language: Working Papers in Cultural Studies, edited by S. Hall, D. Hobson, A. Lowe and P. Willis (London: Hutchinson/Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies, 1980).3 K. W. Crenshaw, "Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics," University of Chicago Legal Forum 1, no. 8 (1989): 139–168; K. W. Crenshaw, On Intersectionality: Essential Writings (New York: The New York Press, 2017).4 N. Fraser, Scales of Justice: Reimagining Political Space in a Globalizing World (New York: Columbia University Press, 2010).5 E. Winter, "Beyond Binaries and Polarization? Rethinking Pluralist Inclusion in Immigrant Nations. Beyond Binaries and Polarization? Rethinking Pluralist Inclusion in Immigrant Nations," Nationalism and Ethnic Politics (2023).6 J. Carlaw and E. Winter, "Conservatism and the Re-Communitarianization of Citizenship in Canada," Nationalism and Ethnic Politics (2022): 1–21.7 Carlaw and Winter, "Conservatism and the Re-Communitarianization of Citizenship in Canada."8 E. Winter, Us, Them and Others: Pluralism and National Identities in Diverse Societies (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2011).9 J. Jahangir and K. Wells, Muslims protesting against LGBTQ + pride are ignoring Islam's tradition of inclusion. The Conversation, 2023, https://theconversation.com/muslims-protesting- against-lgbtq-pride-are-ignoring-islams-tradition-of-inclusion-20994910 Malcolm Waters, Globalization (New York: Routledge, 2013).11 H. Ramos and J. Young, "Critical Events and the Funding of Indigenous Organizations," Journal of Canadian Studies 52, no. 2 (2018): 570–590; W. H. Sewell, Jr. Logics of History: Social Theory and Social Transformation (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005); W. H. Sewell, Jr, "The Temporalities of Capitalism," Socio-Economic Review 6, no. 3 (2008): 517–537.12 R. Brubaker, Trans: Gender and Race in an Age of Unsettled Identities (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2016).13 Carlaw and Winter, "Conservatism and the Re-Communitarianization of Citizenship in Canada."14 D. Bélanger, M. Ouellet, C. Coustere, and C. Fleury, "Staggered Inclusion: Between Temporary and Permanent Immigration Status in Quebec, Canada," Nationalism and Ethnic Politics (2023): 1–14.15 P. Landolt and L. Goldring, "Assembling Noncitizenship through the Work of Conditionality," Citizenship Studies 19, no. 8 (2015): 853–869.16 E. Winter, L. Bassel, and M. Gomá, "Hailing in the Face of Covid-19: On the Uses and Abuses of Heroism," Nationalism and Ethnic Politics (2023): 1–25.17 Lizotte, "A Diverse Minority of Intolerance."18 Carlaw and Winter, "Conservatism and the Re-Communitarianization of Citizenship in Canada."19 B. W. White, "The Paradox of Pluralism: Municipal Integration Policy in Québec," Nationalism and Ethnic Politics (2023): 1–15.20 G. Bateson, Steps to an Ecology of Mind: Collected Essays in Anthropology, Psychiatry, Evolution, and Epistemology (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1972).21 M. Kenyon, "WeChat Surveillance Explained," CitizenLab, 2020, https://citizenlab.ca/2020/05/wechat-surveillance-explained/22 Amy Hawkins, "Explainer: China's Covert Overseas 'Police Stations'," The Guardian, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/20/explainer-chinas-covert-overseas-police-stations23 Bélanger et al., "Staggered Inclusion"; Carlaw and Winter, "Conservatism and the Re-Communitarianization of Citizenship in Canada."24 White, "The Paradox of Pluralism."25 E. Winter, "Beyond Binaries and Polarization? Rethinking Pluralist Inclusion in Immigrant Nations. Beyond Binaries and Polarization? Rethinking Pluralist Inclusion in Immigrant Nations," Nationalism and Ethnic Politics (2023).26 Carlaw and Winter, "Conservatism and the Re-Communitarianization of Citizenship in Canada."27 F. Fukuyama, The End of History and the Last Man (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2006).28 Bélanger et al., "Staggered Inclusion."29 Carlaw and Winter, "Conservatism and the Re-Communitarianization of Citizenship in Canada."30 Lizotte, "A Diverse Minority of Intolerance."31 A. Griffith, Has immigration become a third rail in Canadian politics? IRPP, 2022, https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/december-2022/immigration-canadian-politics/32 IRCC (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada). An Immigration Plan to Grow the Economy. Government of Canada, 2022, https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/news/2022/11/an-immigration-plan-to-grow-the-economy.html33 IRCC (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada). 2022 Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration. Government of Canada, 2022, https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/annual-report-parliament-immigration-2022.html34 M. Woolf, "Canada on Track for 100 million Population but Public Support Can't Be Taken for Granted: Century Initiative CEO," Globe and Mail, 2023, https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-canada-immigration-public-opinion/35 Lizotte, "A Diverse Minority of Intolerance."36 J. Ling, "Far and Widening," Public Policy Forum, 2023, https://ppforum.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/TheRiseOfPolarizationInCanada-PPF-AUG2023-EN2.pdf37 J. Trudeau, Statement by the Prime Minister on Canadian Multiculturalism Day, 2023, https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/statements/2023/06/27/statement-prime-minister-canadian-multiculturalism-day38 Carlaw and Winter, "Conservatism and the Re-Communitarianization of Citizenship in Canada."39 H. MacLennan, Two Solitudes (Montreal: McGill-Queen's Press, 2018).40 T. Qiu and G. Schellenberg, "The Weekly Earnings of Canadian-Born Individuals in Designated Visible Minority and White Categories in the Mid-2010s," Economic and Social Reports. Statistics Canada, 202241 N. Al Mallees, "Housing Crisis: Federal Government Sticks by Immigration Plan, Rethinks International Student Flows," Globe and Mail, 2023, https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-housing-crisis-federal-government-sticks-by-immigration-plan-rethinks/42 E. Winter, Us, Them and Others: Pluralism and National Identities in Diverse Societies (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2011); Carlaw and Winter, "Conservatism and the Re-Communitarianization of Citizenship in Canada."43 Statistics Canada, "Police-Reported Hate Crime, 2021," The Daily. Statistics Canada, 2023. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/230322/dq230322a-eng.htmAdditional informationNotes on contributorsHoward RamosHoward Ramos is a Professor of Sociology at Western University. He is a political sociologist who investigates issues of social justice and equity. He has published on race and ethnicity, social movements, perceptions of change, urban issues, human rights, Indigenous mobilization, environmental advocacy

Populism · Canadian Identity and History · Political Systems and Governance

• Beyond Binaries and Polarization? Rethinking Pluralist Inclusion in Immigrant Nations

  Elke Winter•Nationalism and Ethnic Politics•2023

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