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Recognition, Redistribution and Redress: The Case of the “Chinese Head Tax”

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 August 2005

Matt James
Matt James
Affiliation:
University of Victoria
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Abstract

Abstract. This article uses the recent Canadian campaign seeking redress for the infamous “Chinese head tax” as a vantage point from which to consider whether recognition-seeking social movements are undermining the cause of egalitarian redistribution. Methodologically, the article seeks to complement the normative theorizing and conceptual model-making that have tended to characterize the “recognition versus redistribution” debate by focusing more concretely on the dynamics of an actual social movement campaign. The article demonstrates how this approach can help to identify important nuances in recognition campaigns that blanket claims about recognition's impact both ignore and serve to obscure.

Résumé. Cet article étudie la récente campagne canadienne cherchant la réparation dans les cas d'application de l'infâme taxe d'immigration aux Canadiens d'origine chinoise. Cette campagne offre l'opportunité pour étudier si les mouvements sociaux militant pour la reconnaissance des situations d'abus perpétrées par le passé sont en train d'éroder la cause de la redistribution égalitaire. D'un point de vue méthodologique, l'article essaie de compléter la théoretisation normative et le developpement de modèles conceptuels qui ont seulement pris en compte le débat dit “ de la reconnaissance versus la redistribution ”, en se concentrant plus sur l'étude de la dynamique d'une campagne sociale contemporaine. L'article montre le fait que cette approche peut aider à mettre en exergue d'importants nuances dans les campagnes dites “ de la reconnaissance ”, que des études plus generaux sur l'impact de la reconnaissance ignorent.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 37 , Issue 4 , December 2004 , pp. 883 - 902
Copyright
© 2004 Cambridge University Press

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