Multiculturalism without Citizenship?

Abstract

The model of multiculturalism that emerged in Canada in the 1970s was intimately linked to national citizenship. Multiculturalism was premised on the assumption that immigrants would settle permanently and become citizens, and multiculturalism was seen as an attribute of Canadian citizenship, and a way of enacting citizenship. This tie to citizenship arguably served the interests of both immigrants and the native-born majority. For immigrants, it ensured that multiculturalism did not become a pretext for social exclusion and political marginalization; and for the native-born majority, it helped ensure that multiculturalism was domesticated, as it were, tying recognition of diversity to a shared social and political order. But this model has faced two major challenges in recent years: a neoliberal challenge, which sought to reorient multiculturalism more towards market principles than citizenship principles; and a mobility challenge, which sought to reorient multiculturalism away from ideas of permanent settlement and national citizenship towards ideas of temporary migration and liquid mobility. I critically evaluate these two challenges, focusing in particular on how they understand horizontal relations amongst residents/citizens and vertical relations between residents/citizens and the state. I identify some surprising parallels in the two critiques, and suggest that neither offers a compelling alternative to multicultural national citizenship.