Seeing Ourselves - Exploring Race, Ethnicity and Culture

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Seeing Ourselves

Exploring Race, Ethnicity and Culture

By: Carl E. James

Completely updated and reorganized, this new edition of Seeing Ourselves uses a collection of personal comments and essays, written by students from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds, to examine what it means to participate in the cultural and ethnic “mosaic” that comprises Canada today.

ISBN Print: 978-1-55077-171-8
Digital: 978-1-55077-276-0
Edition Fourth
Year 2010
Page Count 286

$ 34.95 Digital Version: $29.95

Description

Carl E. James creates a dialogue with readers to probe the meaning of ethnicity, race, and culture, exploring how these concepts are understood both by individuals and in Canadian society as a whole. He explores how local, national, and international events of the past decade have brought questions about immigration, citizenship, and multiculturalism to the forefront, informing attitudes and influencing policies.

The varied perspectives, detailed analysis, and careful reflections presented in Seeing Ourselves will be invaluable to anyone seeking to understand the meaning, implications, and complexity of ethnic diversity in Canadian society.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

  • Issues and Concerns Pertaining to Race, Ethnicity, and Culture

  • Seeing Ourselves

  • Using a Cultural Analysis Framework

  • Telling Stories

2. Conceptualizing Culture
  • Conceptualizing Culture, Cultural Hegemony, and Ethno-Racial Diversity
  • Cultural Diversity: Differences and Variations Among Ethno-Racial Groups
  • Conclusion
3. Constructing Cultural Identity
  • Race and the Social Construction of Identity

  • Ethnicty as Part of Cultural Identity

  • Mixed Race? Biracial? Half-Breed? Or Simply Canadian?

  • Being Canadian

  • Hyphenated Canadians

  • Conclusion

4. Grappling with Familial & Social Influences on Identity
  • Factors that Influence Human Behaviour

  • Growing Up: The Role of Family and Community

  • Fitting In: Coping with Difference

  • Conclusion

5. Examining the Limits of Multiculturalism
  • Disquiet in the Diverse Population of Europe: A Reference
  • Canada's Policy of Multiculturalism: Interpretations and Practices
  • Accommodating "Difference": Adjudicating What Can (and Is To ) Be Accepted
  • "Are You Canadian?": Negotiating "Difference" in Multicultural Canada
  • On the Future of "Official" Multiculturalism in Canada
  • Conclusion
6. Assessing the Merits of Immigration
  • Canadian Immigration: An Overview

  • Perceptions of Immigrants and Their Impact on Society

  • Resourceful Resources: Canada Needs Immigrants

  • Conclusion

7. Racism, Identification, and Equity
  • Mechanisms That Support Ideologies of Inequity and Social Differentiation

  • Life with Racism, Other Mechanisms of Differentiation, and Discrimination

  • Equity Programs and Questions about Qualification and Fair Treatment

  • The Paradox of Equity Programs

  • Towards Equity That Makes Opportunities Possible for All

  • Conclusion

8. Identity, Privilege, and Difference
  • Conclusion

About the Author

Carl E. James
York University

Carl E. James, MA, PhD is the Director for the York Centre for Education and Community. He teaches in the Faculty of Education and the graduate programs in Sociology and the School of Social Work at York University. His research interests include race and ethnic identification; education access and equity for marginalized youth; and youth, sport, and schooling.