Behind Immigration Debates: Discourse, Policy and Reality of Muslim Integration in Western Societies

Dr. Jeffrey G. Reitz
RF Harney Professor and Director, Ethnic, Immigration and Pluralism Studies Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy University of Toronto

DATE: Wednesday, Mar. 20, 2019
TIME: 11:00 a.m.
LOCATION: SSC Room #6210

Dr. Reitz examines the social, economic and political experiences of immigrant and ethnic populations, and has a number of projects underway in Canada.  His current comparative research examines the experience of Muslim immigration in France, Quebec and Canada, based on extensive quantitative data and new qualitative interviews.

Immigration debates varied greatly across Western societies, expressing distinctive national concerns and putting forward different approaches to immigrant integration. With international conflicts and the ‘war on terror,’ these debates have emphasized possibly distinctive problems regarding Muslim groups. Research on actual processes of Muslim minority integration in Western societies shows that while these distinctive national debates and ‘discourses’ represent symbolic inclusion and exclusion, and have important impacts on Muslims, overall they provide a poor representation of the reality of Muslim social and economic integration. In this context, a comparison of France and Canada is of particular interest for two reasons: (1) they represent almost diametrically opposed integration ‘models’: republican secularism in France, multiculturalism in Canada; and (2) for each there are excellent large-scale survey data to assess Muslim minority integration.

Please join us for this Sociology Colloquium, we would love to see you all there!  Everyone welcome, no RSVP required.

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