Engaging with Diversity

Contributed by leading scholars of Quebec Studies, both emerging and established, the 30 essays of this comprehensive collection offer a multidisci- plinary survey of the study of diversity in Quebec over space and time. The volume is organized around a variety of themes through which Quebec's plural reality is expressed, including conceptual, historical and contemporary approaches, covering a wide range of social and economic cleavages, iden- tity markers, political contestation and, broadly, the lived experiences of Quebecers negotiating differ- ence over time. In an environment increasingly demarcated by conflicts around values and cultural and social practices, this collection hopes to contrib- ute to broadening the spectrum of voices to the cur- rent debate, adding an inclusive reflection to a con- versation that has only intensified over the last decade. Quebec as a pluri-national and multi-ethnic society has been and remains a great laboratory to study and to test public policies on ethnic diversity. It allows us to identify the tensions and to evaluate the balance between the majority and the minority; and between settler society and indigenous nations, in conceptualizing and finding a normative consen- sus around the configuration of collective rights. In short, the contributions in this volume seek to illus- trate how pluralism has and continues to constitute the lifeblood of belonging in Quebec.