Lived fictions : unity and exclusion in Canadian politics

Summary: "The idea of political unity contains its own opposite, because a political community can never guarantee the equal status of all its members. The price of belonging is an entrenched social stratification within the political unit itself. This book explores how the desire for political unity generates a collective commitment to certain lived fictions--the citizen-state, the market economy, and so forth--that shape our understanding of political legitimacy and responsibility. Canada promises unity through democratic politics, reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, a welfare state, and a multicultural approach to cultural relations. This book documents the historical failure of these promises, elaborating the radical institutional and intellectual changes needed to overcome our lived fictions."--

Record details

ISBN: 0774836474
ISBN: 9780774836470
ISBN: 9780774836487
ISBN: 0774836482
Physical Description: print
ix, 292 pages ; 24 cm.
Publisher: Vancouver : UBC Press, [2018]
Copyright: ©2018.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 273-287) and index.

Formatted Contents Note:

Becoming one : visions of political unity -- On the critique of political imaginaries -- A people without sovereignty : Canada's constituent power problem -- The Crown and the Aboriginal : imaginaries of sovereignty and control -- Embedded neoliberalism : a new imaginary for the welfare state -- Canada's multiverse : the dis/unity of cultures -- Institutions and actions : a vision of democratization -- Conclusion : critique and politics -- or, what makes a birthday party memorable.