Hierarchical pluralism

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Hierarchical pluralism

• Examining social attachments in Canada's two
  national contexts

Mai B. Phan and Raymond Breton
Presented at the CRONEM annual conference
Nationalism and National Identities Today
Multidisciplinary Perspectives University of
Surrey, U.K. June 12-13, 2007
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Models of Diversity revisited

• The multiplicity of social connections in a
  modern context implies the possibility of
  multiple identifications or attachments and the
  possibility of choice.
• Uni-dimensional perspectives like assimilation
  theories presume that strengthening attachment to
  one implies weakening in another, competing
  identity.
• In the bi-dimensional perspective, identification
  with and attachment to the ancestral group and
  the larger community are both possible, and
  possibly desirable.

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Social Dominance Theory

• The assimilation and pluralism theories assume
  that all groups have the same opportunity to
  participate in institutions, to be accepted in
  social interaction and thus become integrated in
  the social fabric in the same ways.
• However, this assumption of equality may not be
  warranted in all social contexts.
• Sidanius and his colleagues argue that an
  additional model is required, that of social
  dominance which takes into account an ethnic
  hierarchy in the society.

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• Members of groups lower in the hierarchy would be
  more likely
• to integrate in the ethnic community
• to persist in assigning importance to their
  ethnicity and
• to have a relatively weak sense of belonging to
  the larger society.
• Members with higher standing would be more
  likely
• to integrate in the larger society
• to show a decrease in the importance they attach
  to their ethnicity and
• to have a relatively strong sense of belonging to
  the larger society.

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Exploring the data 2002 Ethnic Diversity Survey

• Measuring attitudinal attachments to Canada
• Sense of belonging to Canada
• Importance of civic identity
• (includes responses of Canadian/ Canadienne,
  Quebecois, Newfoundland, Acadian, French-Canadian
  or other regional identity)
• Measuring attitudinal attachments to ethnic
  group
• Sense of belonging to ethnic ancestry group
• Importance of ethnic identity
• Importance of ethnic ancestry
• Importance of ethnic customs and traditions
• All measures of attachment were dichotomized,
  with strong responses (4/5) scored 1 and
  weak/moderate responses scored 0

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Simultaneous Latent Class Analysis

• Latent Class Analysis is analogous to factor
  analysis for categorical data, testing the
  underlying structure of relationships among
  variables
• Unlike factor analysis, latent variables
  constructed from a set of observed, discrete
  variables may be characterized as
  multi-dimensional typologies
• Categories are mutually exclusive, and latent
  classes can be tested for variability (or
  equivalence) of structures between different
  populations (Quebec and the Rest of Canada)

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Patterns of attachment Ethnic
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Patterns of attachment Mainstream
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Patterns of attachment Pluralist
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Patterns of attachment Marginalized
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Comparing the regional distribution of attachment
types
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For white groups, the assimilation model is
supported, with rapid decrease in ethnic
attachments
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For visible minorities, there is stronger ethnic
retention and less integration into the mainstream
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Hierarchical pluralism ?

• Visible minorities and whites have different
  patterns of attachments across cohorts (even
  after controlling for income, education, sex,
  age, reported discrimination and friendship ties)
• Few differences in distribution of attachment
  types among different visible minority groups
• Southern European groups also show similar
  patterns of social attachment to visible
  minoritiesracialization?

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Visible minority groups are over-represented in
the ethnic attachment group
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Charter Groups show different propensities to
attachments

• English are over-represented in the mainstream
  attachment group
• French are over-represented in the pluralist
  attachment group

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National majorities and minorities
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The probability of pluralist social attachments
is higher in Quebec than in the rest of Canada
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Charter groups the relationship between national
identity and ethnic identity

• mainstream for British-origin whites and
  pluralist for French-origin whites in Quebec
  synonymous patterns?
• The majority of whites in Quebec are native-born
  with French ancestry Quebec as a French social
  context
• Quebecs claim as a distinct society and as a
  national minority heightens awareness of French
  culture in context of Anglo-hegemony

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Retention of ethnic attachments across cohorts
is more pronounced for VM compared to whites
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Visible minorities in Quebec

• face the most difficulties integrating in the
  labour market and are more dependent on ethnic
  networks.
• As a result, visible minorities as a devalued
  population may be encouraged towards ethnic
  attachments to a greater extent than in the rest
  of Canada.
• On the other hand, Quebec has given greater
  support for ethnic language retention than the
  rest of Canada, which may come some way to
  explaining the greater likelihood of visible
  minorities retaining ethnic and pluralist
  attachments across generations.

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Defensive structuring on the part of
French-speaking Québec

• Higher level of social and institutional
  segregation on the basis of language and
  religion.
• The only province with its own Ministry of
  Immigration and separate immigration policy
• Resistance to federal multiculturalism policy
  interpreted as an attempted reduction of the
  cultural and political status of French in Canada
• However, facing demographic, economic and
  political pressures to accept and integrate
  immigrants

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Quebecs policy of Inter-culturalism more
explicit conditions on multiculturalism

• recognition of French as the language of public
  life
• respect for liberal democratic values, including
  civil and political rights and equality of
  opportunity and
• respect for pluralism, including openness to and
  tolerance of others' differences.
• The rate of pluralist attachment over
  successive generations is the same for visible
  minorities and whites in Quebec

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Changing modes of belonging?

• Quebecois and Canadian identities losing
  their ethnic connotation (as exclusively French
  or British)
• Quebec is undergoing the challenges of diversity,
  immigration, nationhood and identity as Canada
  has faced much earlier in its history