Reference no: EM13361012 , Length: 2400 Words
Please include references and proper citations in the essays using APA style.
Part 1
Write an essay of 600-800 words on one of the following topics. Be sure that you are presenting the concepts in your own words and that you include current information.
1. LaSelva (1998/99) argues that we can learn something about Canadian nationhood by comparing aboriginal self-government in Canada and in the United States. Review his article and articulate what you think we learn.
2. Some commentators argue that Canada is not a nation at all. Review this argument and take a position (one way or the other). Be sure to provide evidence to defend your position.
3. What evidence is there that French Canadians (or Quebecois) are being assimilated to the wider culture?
4. If we look at ethnicity as an emerging phenomenon, what historical events led to the reformulation or reinvention of the "Quebecois" nation?
5. Is Quebec nationalism civic nationalism or ethnic nationalism (or a little of both)?
6. What social developments led to the transformation of nationalism among citizens of "English Canada"?
7. What role does the Charter of Rights and Freedoms play in the articulation of nationalism in Canada? Does Quebec look at the Charter in the same way as do other Canadians? See Morton (1995).
8. Review the debates around "special status" for Quebec, in the Meech Lake agreement for example, and comment on "English" Canada's response.
9. What events led to the emergence of a "pan-Indian" sense of ethnicity and identity within Canada?
10. What model of the Canadian nation underlies the 1969 "white paper" by the federal government on the status of "Indians" in Canada?
11. While Lord Durham is often seen as just being anti-French, it is important to locate his recommendations in his own time. What would Durham have believed about freedom and the relationship of minorities to a nation state? Start with Kymlicka (1996).
12. Is it necessary for a multinational state to develop a shared national identity? Or, is it sufficient to expect only patriotism from citizens? See Kymlicka (1996).
13. Develop a critique of Trudeau's vision of Canada. (Start with McRoberts.)
part 2
Write an essay of 600-800 words on one of the following topics. Be sure that you are presenting the concepts in your own words and that you include current information.
1. Do all ethnic minorities support multiculturalism policies in Canada? If not, what are their reasons for being wary?
2. Review the evidence on assimilation or retention of culture by Canadian ethnic groups.
3. Analyze one substantive critique of multiculturalism.
4. Although multiculturalism policy is phrased in terms of full participation in society, there is growing evidence that minorities have not been integrated into the political and economic structure of society. Discuss this claim using empirical evidence.
5. Discuss the evidence on the economic divide between immigrant and non-immigrant groups.
6. Discuss the changing face of poverty in Canada.
7. Discuss the problem of teaching Canadian history.
8. Take one group-differentiated right and defend or criticize it.
part 3
Write an essay of 600-800 words on one of the following topics. Be sure that you are presenting the concepts in your own words and that you include current information.
1. Using one of the authors introduced in this module (or another author on the subject), discuss the rise of identity politics.
2. Analyze debates over "appropriation of voice."
3. Analyze the pressures on the public school system exerted by identity claims.
4. Discuss a debate in your community (or some other community) over the inclusiveness of school curriculum.
5. Discuss Charter politics.
6. Discuss the politics of identity in the context of Canada's political parties.
7. Discuss the broad concerns that some people have about the consequences of identity politics.
8. Discuss the concept of "essentialism."