Competing Visions and Current Debates in Interculturalism in Québec

Abstract

In her article "Competing Visions and Current Debates in Interculturalism in Québec" Marie McAndrew posits that interculturalism is the quest for a middle path between Canadian multiculturalism (criticized for essentializing and isolating cultures) and French Jacobinism (which relegates diversity to the private sphere). The theoretical underpinnings of the three approaches are first compared using major works in political philosophy, sociology of ethnic relations, and social psychology. The polysemic nature of actual policies is then explored through the example of Québec's immigration society where two versions of interculturalism developed since the late 1970s and are still competing. McAndrew analyzes four recent controversies regarding diversity management in Québec to illustrate these two conceptions of interculturalism and to demonstrate the continuing popularity of multiculturalism and Jacobinism in Québec where religious diversity has increased significantly.