Title: Public commissions on cultural and religious diversity : analysis, reception and challenges /
Authors: Lefebvre, Solange, 1959-; Brodeur, Patrice, 1962-
Year: 2017
Subjects: Multiculturalism Case studies.; Religion and state Case studies.; Governmental investigations Case studies.; Governmental investigations; Multiculturalism; Religion and state
Abstract: Due to growing negative perceptions about relations between historically entrenched, dominant populations and various minority groups, issues relating to the need to better manage cultural and religious diversity have been intensifying in many countries. These negative perceptions have recently led to a significant increase in popular support for right and extreme right nationalist discourses, and have created so much public tension that national governments have had no choice but to respond. In the last two decades, in several Western contexts in particular, the issues raised by such combined challenges have culminated in the creation of government-initiated or private national commissions. This book presents the results of a multidisciplinary analysis, from a broader framework that includes the national public commissions which have addressed the challenges of managing cultural and religious diversity in Belgium, Britain, Canada (Quebec), France, Morocco and Norway (including also other cases of public management in Australia and Singapore). It includes in-depth studies of the issues and controversies examined by each of the commissions, such as the ways they perceived the issues, their results and impact, the key political players involved, the media debates and reception surrounding each commission, the communication strategies and difficulties their leaders encountered, as well as the legal aspects each commission has raised. The reports represent a rich body of work charting the fundamental questions nations face about their nature, history and future while the impact on peoples’ lives tells us much about different approaches to the issues of cultural identity between countries. --
Contents: Preface : the benefit of analysing national public commissions on diversity for research and policy making / Solange Lefebvre and Patrice Brodeur -- Introduction : national commissions on diversity : when reflective processes happen in parallel within several nation-states / Solange Lefebvre -- National commissions on collective identity and diversity : Britain, France, Quebec, and Belgium / Solange Lefebvre -- "Stories are the secret reservoirs of values" : personal recollections of two commissions in the United Kingdom / Robin Richardson -- Assumptions of power subverted : media and emotions in the wake of the Parekh report / Sarah Neal and Eugene McLaughlin -- From the Stasi (2003) to the Machelon Commission (2006) : the use of commissions in religious regulation in France / Pierre-Henri Prélot -- The outcome of the Stasi report in France : much ado about nothing? / Anne Fornerod --^