Becoming Multicultural
Immigration and the Politics of Membership in Canada and Germany
Examines the remarkable transformation of Canada and Germany into highly diverse multicultural societies by the end of the twentieth century.
Description
During the first half of the twentieth century, Canada's and Germany’s responses to questions of national membership consisted of discriminatory policies aimed at harnessing migration for economic ends. Yet, by the end of the century, both countries were transformed into highly diverse multicultural societies. How did this remarkable shift come about? Triadafilopoulos argues that, after the war, global human rights norms intersected with domestic political identities and institutions, opening the way for the liberalization of Canada's and Germany’s immigration and citizenship policies. His is a thought-provoking analysis that sheds light on the dynamics of membership politics and policy making in contemporary liberal-democratic countries.