Date of Award

2007

Degree Type

Major Research Paper

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Immigration and Settlement Studies

First Advisor

June Ying Yee

Second Advisor

Gordon Pon

Abstract

As immigration continues to transform the ethno-racial composition of Canada, growing evidence of barriers to integration compels a re-evaluation of multiculturalism. Integration based on multicultural citizenship problematizes immigration by reproducing exclusionary nationalism and essentializing culturalism. The concept of citizenship preserves the myth of a national community although global issues manifest within national borders and local policies prioritize global capital. While multiculturalism implies cultural equality, the reality is a social hierarchy influenced by shifting identities resulting from migration and a constructed 'Canadianness' stemming from colonization. To replace the one-sided approach of immigrant obligation with mutual responsibility, integration must challenge the nationalist/culturalist tendencies of multicultural citizenship by reconceptualising the citizen from a critical transnational perspective that connects the local with the global. Therefore, this paper will present a revised concept of citizenship based on interdependency, which contradicts nationalism by localizing global inequality and challenges culturalism by globalizing local identities.


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