Synopses & Reviews
This is a wide-ranging inquiry into the forces that define the nations of North America and that, through convergence, are bringing North America's peoples and institutions closer together. These socio-cultural and regional forces form a web of factors that goes beyond trade and investment policy to articulate each nation's sense of identity through its history, values, and practices. Can some sort of functional community emerge from these disparate identities? Are there fresh opportunities for cooperation to be found in North America's value structures, social groupings, and institutions? If so, what are the costs and the benefits that might accompany interactions that touch upon each nation's culture and sense of self?
Since no book at this early stage of continental consciousness can or should aspire to be definitive, this inquiry - by thirteen scholars from Canada, Mexico, and the United States - is an attempt to assess the dynamics of identities and to seek out ways in which the three nations can become more comfortable with their collective future on the continent. The book's underlying premise is not the inevitability of community in North America, but its possibility.
Synopsis
This wide-ranging inquiry into the socio-cultural forces that define the three nations of North America seeks out ways in which the countries can become more comfortable with their collective future on the continent.
Synopsis
“This rich and accessible book argues that ongoing changes within North America will stimulate an examination of each nations sense of identity and provide fresh opportunities. . . . This fascinating book shows the outlines of those forces that are inexorably making the 21st century.”—Foreign Affairs
Synopsis
A penetrating set of reflections on the prospects for greater North American integration.
Synopsis
This is a wide-ranging inquiry into the forces that define the nations of North America and that are bringing North America's peoples and institutions closer together. A collaborative effort on the part of thirteen scholars from Canada, Mexico, and the United States, the volume assesses the dynamics of identity and seeks out ways in which the three nations of North America can become more comfortable with their collective future on the continent - where community is not inevitable, but increasingly possible. The contributors probe the core values of the three countries, study group interactions and trans-border regionalism, and assess, in conclusion, the search for community and the possibility of thinking of North America as a whole. The book thus attacks directly the problems of asymmetry that have in the past arisen when Mexico is added to the familiar pairing of Canada and the United States.
Synopsis
This volume contains a penetrating set of reflections on the prospects for greater North American integration. It assesses the dynamics of identity and seeks out ways in which the three nations of North America can become more comfortable with their collective future on the continent - where community is not inevitable, but increasingly possible.
Table of Contents
Introduction Robert L. Earle and John D. Wirth; Part I. Core Values: 1. Canada: values in search of a vision Keith Spicer; 2. American identity: a political compact Marc Pachter; 3. Approaches to the problem of Mexican identity Alberto Ruy-Sánchez; Part II. Group Identities and Interactions: 4. Pluralism and ecology in Canadian cities David Crombie; 5. The dynamics of assimilation in the United States Richard Estrada; 6. Mexico: culture and identity in the information age Alejandra Lajous Vargas; Part III. Regional Perspectives: 7. Quebec in the emerging North American configuration Daniel Latouche; 8. Cascadia: the new binationalism of western Canada and the US Pacific Northwest Paul Schell and John Hammer; 9. The Mexico-U.S. border: a line of paradox Jorge Bustamente; 10. Conclusion: the search for community Robert L. Earle and John D. Wirth.