![[McMaster logo]](mcmaster_logo.jpg){kind=logo}
Multiculturalism and Cultural Practices
In today’s world, it is more critical than ever that we understand multiculturalism, identity and the role of cultural practice so that we can more effectively address the many diverse needs we face in Canadian and global society. The key themes in the field include:
- How identity has been experienced in different historical and geographic contexts;
- How existing practices in citizenship, government policy, and global relations impact and shape identities;
- How identities in turn shape political practices; and
- How to create accommodation regimes that are both workable and just
Four members of our faculty have active research programs in this area:
- J. Marshall Beier’s work is concerned with hybridized identities issuing from (post)colonial encounters. His research considers the negotiation of identity through citizenship practices (in particular, Indigenous peoples' participation at the UN), and in emergent global networks of resistance.
- Karen Bird conducts comparative research on multicultural policies. Her current work focuses on the political representation of women and ethnic minorities, the effectiveness of quotas under various electoral systems and circumstances of party competition, and on the conditions under which women and ethnic minorities act as group representatives. Visit our Women and Minorities Project website for more information.
- Catherine Frost looks at the moral questions surrounding the claims of national groups or cultural minorities to special representation, remediation or independence. This research asks how identity, community, and collective consciousness are affected by the conditions of shared public life, including the impact that new media like the internet can have on the experience of identity and shared culture.
- Peter Nyers does research on cultures and identities in world politics, with a specialization in the politics of global refugee and migration flows. His current research focuses on the social movements and political campaigns of non-status refugees and undocumented immigrants
