When Cultures Clash: Case Studies in Multiculturalism. 2nd ed

Raj S. Gandhi is a sociology professor at the University of Calgary.

This second edition of John Friesen’s case studies in multiculturalism
provides considerable detail on the Canadian federal government’s
policy of “multiculturalism.” Chapters 1–3 offer theoretical
considerations and a critical evaluation of multiculturalism. Marxist
and neo-Marxist considerations of why the Canadian state would fund and
promote the policy of multiculturalism are ignored; instead, we are
given what is essentially the “official” explanation of
multiculturalism.

The author shows how five distinct communities have tried to deal with
the challenge of cultural maintenance through the medium of schooling.
The case studies include the so-called charter nations of Canada (French
and English peoples), two Anabaptist groups (Hutterites and Mennonites),
a specific Chinese community in Calgary, and the Sikh people in Canada.
A brief postscript addresses expanding culturalism. Although it is
readable, informative, and useful for a course on multiculturalism, the
book suffers from a lack of theoretical orientation.