ABSTRACT

Mapping the contradictions and ambiguities in the cultural politics of Canadian identity, The House of Difference opens up new understandings of the operations of tolerance and Western liberalism in a supposedly post-colonial era. Combining an analysis of the construction of national identity in both past and present-day public culture, with interviews with white Canadians, The House of Difference explores how ideas of racial and cultural difference are articulated in colonial and national projects, and in the subjectivities of people who consider themselves mainstream, or simply Canadian-Canadians.

chapter 1|22 pages

INTRODUCTION

chapter 2|27 pages

SETTLING DIFFERENCES

chapter 4|20 pages

BECOMING INDIGENOUS

chapter 5|16 pages

Localising strategies: celebrating Canada

chapter 6|33 pages

CRISIS IN THE HOUSE