Introduction

The works presented in this book are the result of an interdisciplinary Euro­ Canadian research programme which focuses on new forms of social com­ plexity.1 The term most commonly used to refer to the liquid nature of our late modernity – as Zygmunt Bauman famously characterized it – has so far been that of globalization, but the spatial dimension is only one side to this phenomenon. Globalization can also be seen as a synchronization process that generates new patterns of social complexity. This simultane­ ous interconnectedness manifests itself in the proliferation of social and economic drivers and in the transformation of political and institutional spaces, which in turn generate new couplings between territory and power and, in a reverse course, tend to de­territorialize some social relations. The result has been the general erosion of the nation­state as the hegemonic form of political organization. The allocation conflicts along class lines within self­contained states, which characterized the simple diversity of industrial societies, have thus given way to a combination of social, political, and cultural cleavages that overlap and compete for legitimacy at a national and supranational level. Europe and North America are without doubt the largest experimentation fields for these changes. Canada, however, while inscribed in the American continent, more closely resembles European societies in many of its political institutions and its social values than its neighbour to the south. Therefore, had it not been for the Atlantic divide, this country would be a suitable candidate for the now seemingly fraying European experiment. Moreover, for decades Canada has been viewed as a pioneering society in the management of diversity, as reflected in its expe­ riences with federalism, multiculturalism, linguistic rights, aboriginal self­ government, reasonable accommodation, and international peacekeeping, which empowers it to offer some interesting similarities and contrasts with Europe. The conventional perception of Canada as a soft power, however, has not gone without challenges from the inside, as former Conservative cabinets have attempted to rewrite the Canadian narrative by proposing a more self­assertive version.

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