Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Notes on the contributors
- Foreword by Charles Taylor
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Part I Justice and stability in multinational democracies
- Part II Struggles over recognition and institutions of accommodation
- 5 Federalism, federation and collective identities in Canada and Belgium: different routes, similar fragmentation
- 6 Recognition claims, partisan politics and institutional constraints: Belgium, Spain and Canada in a comparative perspective
- 7 Ethnoterritorial concurrence in multinational societies: the Spanish comunidades autónomas
- 8 Mutual recognition and the accommodation of national diversity: constitutional justice in Northern Ireland
- 9 Federalist language policies: the cases of Canada and Spain
- 10 Competing national visions: Canada–Quebec relations in a comparative perspective
- Part III Modes of reconciliation and conflict management
- References
- Index
5 - Federalism, federation and collective identities in Canada and Belgium: different routes, similar fragmentation
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 October 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Notes on the contributors
- Foreword by Charles Taylor
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Part I Justice and stability in multinational democracies
- Part II Struggles over recognition and institutions of accommodation
- 5 Federalism, federation and collective identities in Canada and Belgium: different routes, similar fragmentation
- 6 Recognition claims, partisan politics and institutional constraints: Belgium, Spain and Canada in a comparative perspective
- 7 Ethnoterritorial concurrence in multinational societies: the Spanish comunidades autónomas
- 8 Mutual recognition and the accommodation of national diversity: constitutional justice in Northern Ireland
- 9 Federalist language policies: the cases of Canada and Spain
- 10 Competing national visions: Canada–Quebec relations in a comparative perspective
- Part III Modes of reconciliation and conflict management
- References
- Index
Summary
As exemplified in the simultaneous presence of rising trends towards atomization, economic, political and cultural integration, the proliferation of nationalist movements, and the multiplication of identity-based demands, the early twenty-first century is marked by tensions between universalism and particularism. These tensions tend to result in a growing polarization of political and theoretical positions, most often expressed through a debate on citizenship. Between the discourses of homogenizing universalism, exclusive nationalism, and postmodern hyperfragmentation or atomization, little space is left for a balance between unity and diversity. In this context, despite the recent collapse of federations in central and eastern European countries, most of those who believe in the suitability and feasibility of a balance between unity and diversity still consider federations – or some other type of federal system – as one of the most valuable options (see Kymlicka 1998b; Smith 1995a; Forsyth 1994, pp. 22–3; Norman 1994; Taylor 1993a; Gagnon 1993a, pp. 21–31). By way of a comparative study of the evolution of federalism, federation and collective identities in Canada and Belgium since the 1960s, this chapter seeks to demonstrate both the high importance and the major difficulties of reaching a federal balance between unity and diversity in multinational and polyethnic countries. A balance between unity and diversity – within a single multinational and polyethnic country – may be defined as the institutionalization of both the plurality and the asymmetry of allegiances in compatible ways.
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- Multinational Democracies , pp. 137 - 175Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2001
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