National Identities and Images of the Other in a Canadian–American Borderlands Region: Value Difference or Borderlands Convergence?

Abstract

This article explores differences in national identities and orientations toward “the other” among Canadian and American students who attend geographically proximate universities in the southern Ontario/Upstate New York borderlands region. Drawing on descriptions of Canada–US cultural differences regarding national identities and views of “the other” from the work of Seymour Martin Lipset (and his critics) among Canadians and Americans at large, the authors uncover some evidence that is generally (although not universally) supportive of his characterizations. We then narrow our focus to compare the orientations of respondents who were raised in the bi-national borderlands region. Although the magnitude of difference between the views of the full sample and those of this geographically restricted group are generally not large, a multivariate test comparing scores on an additive index of cross-border affinity does show up robust evidence of increased affinity sentiments among those raised in these geographically proximate areas. Interestingly, however, the authors did not find that these heightened cross-border affinities are related to the frequency with which the individual crosses the border or to the existence of cross-border kinship networks.