Condemned to rootlessness: The loyalist origins of Canada's identity crisis

Kaufmann, Eric P.

doi:10.1080/13537119708428495

Cited by 8 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Why, after more than a century of British loyalism, did Trudeau’s pan-Canadian nationalism resonate so strongly among English Canadians? Eric Kaufmann (1997: 14) puts forward an interesting explanation. Drawing upon anthropological approaches to identity, Kaufmann argues that groups such as English Canadians, whose popular culture is similar in substance to their neighbours (i.e.…”

Section: National Majorities As Zones Of Conflictmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond multination federalism: Reflections on nations and nationalism in Canada

Woods

2012

Ethnicities

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This article addresses the problem of managing nationalism in multination states by evaluating the influential multination federal model, as put forward by a group of Canadian scholars. Finding that it employs an overly primordial view of nations, the article argues that John Hutchinson’s approach, which foregrounds the conflict of nationalisms that occurs within nations, offers a better lens from which to bring to light the sources of unity and disunity in multination states. To illustrate this, the article discusses the conflict of nationalisms in Canada, suggesting that a debate over the merits of pan-Canadian nationalism within English Canada and French Québec can be identified. In failing to account for this, the article argues that the multination federal model risks (1) marginalizing French-speaking Quebecers who support pan-Canadian nationalism and (2) encouraging English Canadian nationalism. To conclude, the article suggests that models seeking to mitigate the potential centrifugal effects of nationalism should avoid privileging one type of nationalism over another.

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Section: National Majorities As Zones Of Conflictmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond multination federalism: Reflections on nations and nationalism in Canada

Woods

2012

Ethnicities

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“…For instance, Igartua's () and Champion's () analyses of Canadian nationalism (which cover a wide range of phenomena from citizenship curricula, the national flag, the national anthem, and national holidays to multiculturalism and defense policy) demonstrate that the symbolic construction of Canadian nationhood underwent significant changes from the 1940s to the early 1970s. Driven primarily by the governments of Liberal Prime Ministers Lester B. Pearson and Pierre Elliott Trudeau, these changes de‐emphasised Canada's British heritage, which had played an important role in earlier definitions of Canadian identity (Berger ; Kaufmann ). At the time, these symbolic shifts met with fierce, but ultimately unsuccessful, resistance from the Conservatives (the Liberals' main electoral rival) and their supporters.…”

Section: Analysis: Canada's National Symbolic Ordermentioning

confidence: 99%

Nation‐building and Canada's national symbolic order, 1993–2015

Nieguth

Raney

2016

Nations and Nationalism

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This article examines the symbolic construction of Canadian national identity by the 1993-2006 Liberal governments and the 2006-2015 Conservative governments.To do so, it employs the concept of a 'national symbolic order', which refers to the complex set of public symbols that invoke, transport, and define claims to a shared national identity. Within Canada's national symbolic order, we focus on the state's use of national symbols across two domains: Speeches from the Throne and banknotes. Our analysis shows that Canada's recent Conservative government has used both of these domains to reshape Canadian national identity in ways that accord with neo-conservative values and ideology, and that it has done so in a coherent, consistent, and comprehensive fashion. This analysis highlights the symbolic strategies employed by state actors in linking particular ideologies to their nation-building projects; these strategies span multiple political and policy spaces.

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“…10 For more on this point, see Kaufmann (1997). Despite the general preponderance of anglophone voices, French-Canadian federal politicians such as George-Etienne Cartier, Henri Bourassa, Wilfrid Laurier, or Pierre Trudeau have made important contributions to the discourse of Canadian identity.…”

Section: The Perception Of Landscape In Canadian Identity In the Pre-mentioning

confidence: 99%