Politics in North America

by Abu-Laban, Yasmeen

• ISBN13: 9781551116426
• ISBN10: 1551116421
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-09-15
• Publisher: Univ of Toronto Pr Higher education

Summary

It is no longer sufficient to examine discrete nation-states in isolation from each other. In Politics in North America: Redefining Continental Relations , prominent authors from Canada, the United States, and Mexico explore the politics of redefining the institutional, economic, geographic, and cultural boundaries of North America. The contributors argue that the study of politics in the twenty-first century requires simultaneous attention to all levels (local, national, and international) as well as, increasingly, to continents. This argument is explored through the historical and contemporary social and political forces that have created competing visions of what it means to belong to a North American political community. In this process, new debates emerge in the book concerning the appropriate role for the state, as well as the meaning of sovereignty, democracy, and rights.

Author Biography

Yasmeen Abu-Laban is Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Alberta. The author, with Christina Gabriel, of Selling Diversity: Immigration Multiculturalism, Employment Equality, and Globalization (Broadview Press, 2002), she has also written numerous articles on citizenship theory and the comparative dimensions of migration, nationalism and identity politics. Radha Jhappan is Associate Professor at Carleton University in the Department of Political Science. She has published in the areas of Indigenous peoples' politics and law, Canadian socio-political history, constitutional law and politics, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, race and gender in feminist theory, and feminist legal theory and litigation strategies. Franois Rocher is Professor in the School of Political Studies at the University of Ottawa. He has held a similar position at Carleton University, where he was also director of the School of Canadian Studies. He is the co-editor, with Miriam Smith, of New Trends in Canadian Federalism (Broadview Press, 2003) and has extensively published on constitutional politics, intergovernmental relations, immigration, and citizenship in Canada.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	p. 7
Abbreviations	p. 9
Introduction	p. 11
History and The Politics of Defining and Redefining North America
Introduction	p. 25
The "New World": Legacies of European Colonialism in North America	p. 27
Nation-building and Regionalism in the US, Canada, and Mexico	p. 51
The Roots of North American Economic Development	p. 71
Redefining Intuitional Relations: Continents, States, and Federalism
Introduction	p. 97
The Governance of North America: NAFTA's Complex Institutional Structure	p. 101
Birth of a Union: Lessons for North America from the European Union	p. 115
Globalization and the Democratic Deficit: Challenging Times for Canada's Political Institutions	p. 133
Political Institutions in the United States	p. 157
Political Institutions in Mexico José A. Crespo	p. 175
National Institutions in North America: US, Canadian, and Mexican Federalism	p. 195
Redefining Economic and Social Relations: Public Policies and Human Rights after Nafta
Introduction	p. 221
North American First Peoples: Self-Determination or Economic Development?	p. 225
Default Convergence?: Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in North America	p. 251
Under Pressure: The Impasses of North American Labour Movements	p. 273
Ragged Cruelty? Social Policy Transformations in North America	p. 295
Ten Years After: Continental Free Trade and Environmental Policy in North America	p. 315
Redefining Spatial Relations: Post-9/11 Borders, Migration, and National Security
Introduction	p. 337
Migration in North America	p. 339
From the 49th Parallel to the Rio Grande: US Homeland Security and North American Borders	p. 353
North American Security and Foreign Policy: Does a Trilateral Community Exist?	p. 371
Redefining Cultural Relations: Towards A North American Community?
Introduction	p. 389
Economic Integration and North American Political Cultures	p. 393
Civil Society Organizing under Continental Integration: The Promise and Limits of Community-Building "From Below"	p. 423
Performing North America as Community	p. 441
Beyond NAFTA: The Emergence and Future of North America	p. 461
Notes on Contributors	p. 477
Index	p. 483
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