Peoples of Alberta: Portraits of Cultural Diversity

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

Almost every province in Canada is a mosaic of various cultural and racial groups, and the descriptive historical accounting of each one of them in each province is necessary for archival purposes. However, a social scientist could effectively study the interactions between different groups, the processes of conflict, competition, and cooperation as well as the cohesive forces of community formation within each group, and the response of each group to the forces of change.

This book consists of 17 chapters that examine characteristics and contributions of various ethnic groups in Alberta. Two chapters by Howard Palmer examine patterns of immigration and ethnic settlement in Alberta in two specific historical periods (1820 to 1920 and 1920 to 1985). Finally, six additional chapters are co-authored by the editors of the book, overshadowing the other contributors. The ethnic groups included are: Dutch, Icelandic, Native, Scottish, French, Estonian, Ukrainian, Romanian, Polish, Hungarian, Jewish, Huttenite, Blacks, Japanese, South Asian, Khmerian, Laotian, Vietnamese, and Vietnamese-Chinese. The topics explored cover everything from settlement patterns and integration to values, religion, work, language, and politics.

This collaborative work succeeds in examining the importance of Alberta’s ethno-cultural diversity over the past 100 years; pictures and maps in various chapters increase the readability of the book. Overall, the book succeeds more in presenting historical facts than in providing analytical insights into social processes related to ethnic communities.