Muslims’ social inclusion and exclusion in France,Québec,and Canada: does national context matter?*

This article compares the social experiences of Muslim minorities in three contexts – France, Québec, and English Canada – each reflecting a different approach to immigrant integration. France’s republican model emphasises cultural assimilation and the exclusion of religion from the public sphere; Canada’s multicultural model advocates official recognition of minority cultures; Québec shares Canada’s tradition of large-scale permanent immigration but embodies a unique intercultural discourse of integration, in some ways resembling France. We compare the social experiences of Muslim and non-Muslim minorities in these three settings using the French ‘Trajectories and Origins’ survey (2009) and the Canadian ‘Ethnic Diversity Survey’ (2002) data on reports of discrimination, friendship networks, social trust, voluntarism, and national identity. We find the Muslim/non-Muslim gap in social inclusion is significant in all three settings and results from ethnic, cultural, or racial differences, more than religion. In assessing immigrants’ social inclusion, we suggest consideration be given to: (i) the reality of ‘national models’ in the community, (ii) a tendency for minorities to locate in more accepting segments of mainstream society, and (iii) the limited impact of policies based on national models.     

Social Solidarity, Democracy and Global Capitalism*

Dans cette étude, nous examinons les hypothèses des partisans de la «mondialisation>> et proposons des solutions totalement opposées. Dans la première partie, nous réfutons les arguments suivants au sujet de la «mondialisation>>: la souveraineté nationale s'érode dans tous les pays; la part de propriété transnationale est plus importante que par le passé; la «mondialisation>> constitue la conséquence inévitable du changement technologique; et la libéralisation de l'économie à l'échelle mondiale renforce la démocratic Dans la deuxième partie, nous examinons les solutions de rechange démocratiques que peuvent offrir les anciens et les nouveaux mouvements sociaux. L'utilisation de fonds d'investissement gérés par le public et engagés selon les besoins des collectivités est considérée comme une solution de rechange à l'orientation axée sur le marché mondial des entreprises transnationales.
This paper critically examines the assumptions of the advocates of "globalization" and develops an alternative that is the polar opposite. The first half of the paper challenges the following assumptions about "globalization": that national sovereignty is eroding for all countries; that the level of transnational ownership is higher now than in the past; that "globalization" has been the inevitable result of technological change; that democracy is strengthened by global economic liberalization. The second half of the paper examines the prospects for the creation of democratic alternatives to globalization in old and new social movements. Socially controlled investment funds that have "location commitment" to communities are seen as an alternative to the globalization vision of transnational corporations.     

Surviving the Americanizing New Right*

Benjamin Barber établit un lien entre la mondialisation des entre‐prises et la résurgence des nationalismes ethnoculturels. Selon lui, ces deux phénomènes affaiblissent la démocratie. Barber ne parle pas des effets de la mondialisation sur l'autre aspect du nationalisme — le nationalisme civique, Aetatisé, qui prédomine dans les démo‐craties comme le Canada. Cet article étudie les liens qui unissent ethos, traditions et État au Canada, et qui en font un pays différent des États‐Unis. L'auteur se demande si le nouveau libéralisme de droite des années 1980 et 1990 n'a pas remis en question le caractère distinct du Canada. L'article présente aussi les tendances qui s'opposent à la nouvelle droite libérale au Canada. Benjamin Barber draws a connection between corporate globalization and the resurgence of ethno‐cultural nationalisms. Both weaken democracy, he contends. Barber does not discuss the effects of globalization on the other variety of nationalism—the civic, state‐based kind that predominates in highly diverse, democratic countries such as Canada. This paper examines the state‐based ethos and traditions that have kept Canada distinct from the United States and explores whether the new right liberalism of the 1980s and 1990s has eroded Canada's raison d'etre as a separate country. Counter trends to new right liberalism in Canada are also discussed.     

Solidarity in the age of globalization: Lessons from the anti-MAI and Zapatista struggles

While the Battle of Seattle immortalized a certain image of anti-globalization resistance, processes and agents of contestation remain sociologically underdeveloped. Even with the time-space compression afforded by new information technologies, how can a global civil society emerge among multi-cultured, multi-tongued peoples divided by miles of space and oceans of inequality? This article examines two cases that confronted the U.S. model of global corporate rule: the defeat of the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI), and the Zapatista challenge to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Evaluating cross-border solidarity in these cases encourages critical evaluation of claims about global civil society, the role of the Internet, and the eclipse of traditional politics in a supposedly post-national age. Contrary to orthodox globalization narratives, our analysis suggests that states, nations, and nationalisms remain key elements in contestation processes, at least in the kinds of cases examined. At the same time, transnational networks played an important role in bypassing unfavorable political opportunity structures at the domestic level, and nurtured incipient processes of framing resistance to neo-liberal globalism across national boundaries.

     

The inclusion of minority groups in clinical trials: problems of under representation and under reporting of data

Objective: To evaluate the representation of minority groups in randomized control trials (RCTs), and the frequency with which this information is reported. Study Design: Reviewers collected data on the racial/ethnic composition of study samples from all RCTs published in six leading medical journals in 1999. Results: Of the 280 RCTs, most (204, 71.3%) provided no information on the race/ethnicity of participants. Of the 89 U.S.-based RCTs, 50 (56.1%) reported their minority distribution. Relative to other trials, those funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH) (n = 52) were more likely to report race/ethnicity data (55.8% vs. 23.7%; x2 = 20.9, p <_0.001) and to include nonwhite participants (13.5 % vs. 12.5%; x2=22.7, p<_0.001). Conclusion: Minority groups are currently under-represented in clinical trials. Information on the race and ethnicity of clinical trial participants is currently underreported in six leading medical journals. Reporting of minority group information was significantly better only in NIH funded trials, which also were more likely to include nonwhite participants. This suggests that mandatory reporting policies may have a positive effect on both reporting and representation.     

The Inclusion of Minority Groups in Clinical Trials: Problems of Under Representation and Under Reporting of Data

Objective: To evaluate the representation of minority groups in randomized control trials (RCTs), and the frequency with which this information is reported.

Study Design: Reviewers collected data on the racial/ethnic composition of study samples from all RCTs published in six leading medical journals in 1999.

Results: Of the 280 RCTs, most (204, 71.3%) provided no information on the race/ethnicity of participants. Of the 89 U.S.-based RCTs, 50 (56.1%) reported their minority distribution. Relative to other trials, those funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH) (n = 52) were more likely to report race/ethnicity data (55.8% vs. 23.7%; χ² = 20.9, p ≤ 0.001) and to include nonwhite participants (13.5% vs. 12.5%; χ² = 22.7, p ≤ 0.001).

Conclusion: Minority groups are currently under-represented in clinical trials. Information on the race and ethnicity of clinical trial participants is currently underreported in six leading medical journals. Reporting of minority group information was significantly better only in NIH funded trials, which also were more likely to include nonwhite participants. This suggests that mandatory reporting policies may have a positive effect on both reporting and representation.     

Introduction

CAPITALISM HAS ALWAYS BEEN about the destruction of community. The removal of communities of aboriginals and peasants from their land and craftsmen from their tools and their skills were crucial conditions for the development of early industrial capitalism. The triumph of capitalism required a cultural revolution, for, as E.P. Thompson has written, "there is no such thing as economic growth which is not at the same time, growth and change of a culture."¹ New ideologies of possessive individualism, secularism and scientism were part of this far-reaching cultural revolution, which accompanied and legitimated an economy that for the first time in history was conceived and justified as operating according to its own rational laws, independent of community.     

The schizophrenic character of Canadian political economy

J'explore dans cet article le caractère Schizophrène de l'économie politique au Canada: le même vocabulaire marxiste est utilisé par deux traditions bien distinctes, qui toutes deux se logent à l'enseigne de ‘l’économie politique'. D'un côté on trouve des historien(ne)s idiographiques, des nationalistes qui insistent sur la position dépendante du Canada dans l'économie mondiale et qui postulent que l'histoire canadienne est principalement produite hors du pays. L'autre camp regroupe les internationalistes, des théoricien(ne)s nomothétiques qui s'intéressent à des questions bien différentes: l'ordre social et la révolution. Bien que ces dernier(e)s admettent que le Canada fait partie d'un ordre capitaliste international, ils/elles postulent que la classe capitaliste canadienne est en grande partie indigene, comme c'est le cas d'autres pays capitalistes avancés. Les deux perspectives ont tendance àêtre grevées d'idéologie et souffrent d'extrémisme épistémologique et méthodologique. Ce qui produit un dialogue de sourds. Je conclus en suggérant des pistes qui devraient permettre à chaque perspective de se renouveler et d'ouvrir des avenues prometteuses. This paper explores the schizophrenic character of Canadian political economy. Use of the same Marxist vocabulary cannot hide the existence of two very different perspectives under the rubric ‘political economy.’ On one side are nationalist idiographic historians who focus on Canada's dependent position in the world economy and assume that Canadian history is largely made outside of Canada. On the other side are nomothetic ‘internationalist’ theorists who address entirely different issues - those of social order and revolution. While the latter assume that Canada is part of an international capitalist order, they assume the Canadian business class is largely indigenous, as in other advanced capitalist countries. Both perspectives tend to be ideologically charged and engage in epistemological and methodological extremism. The result is a dialogue of the deaf. The paper concludes by suggesting ways by which each perspective can renew itself and lead in more fruitful directions.