***Apologies for Cross-Postings***
CALL FOR PAPERS
AMERICAN BEHAVIORAL SCIENTIST
"Multiculturalism during Challenging Times"
Editors: Eddy Ng, Dalhousie University
Regine Bendl, WU Vienna
Irene Bloemraad, University of California, Berkeley
Since the events of September 11, 2001, there has been a shift in the attitudes towards immigration and multiculturalism. In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel has declared that "multiculturalism... has utterly failed." Likewise, the UK is moving towards "post-multiculturalism" as a way forward to foster social cohesion and promote assimilation and a common identity. The premise behind the post-multiculturalism/ anti-immigration movement is that multiculturalism is not working, and new public policies and programs are needed to move beyond multiculturalism.
The purpose of this special issue is to provide a forum for debate/consideration of the current experience with multiculturalism from different countries and regions around the world, at the local level, in organizations, and in terms of national and regional integration trends. The focus on multicultural experiences across countries highlights the significance of context in shaping conceptualizations and approaches to multiculturalism. We invite conceptual, review, and empirical papers that examine whether multicultural has "utterly failed," as well as, if there are some successes, whether public policies could be enacted to change the public opinion and negative attitudes towards multiculturalism. In the face of the multicultural backlash, what are the consequences for inclusion policies in these countries and elsewhere?
And what about emerging economies or post-colonial countries and their approaches to multiculturalism and diversity? In the context of "Astronauts" who shuttle back and forth between countries, the phenomenon of 'brain circulation' or even intra-EU mobility, do migrants "remit" practices and philosophies about diversity and multiculturalism to their country of origin? Do countries undergoing rapid economic development and democratization embrace multiculturalism as a symbol of modernity, or do they worry about diversity undermining social cohesion? We are also interested in papers that explore ways in which multiculturalism could serve to benefit organizations, nations, communities, and societies, including the immigrants' countries of origin.
The following are some questions that the editors consider relevant to the special issue, although this list is by no means exhaustive.
§ What is multiculturalism, what are the goals of multiculturalism, and why is it important?
§ Has multiculturalism failed to work? It is the beginning or the end?
§ How are practices and policies of multiculturalism instituted in different countries, or in different organizations and institutions within the same country or across countries?
§ What are some challenges for multiculturalism in the 21st century? Where are we, and where are we going?
§ If multiculturalism is not working, what can be done to foster greater tolerance and inclusion among organizations and societies dealing with diverse memberships, workplaces and communities?
§ What are the implications of multiculturalism for representative bureaucracy and civil society?
§ How does multiculturalism determine national cultures? How ready are countries and organizations to embrace multiculturalism?
§ In which contexts is multiculturalism reproduced across localities, in which ways, and with what effects? What determines good multicultural practices in which context?
§ When and why are multicultural policies implemented, and who promotes them?
§ How can multiculturalism contribute to organizations, communities, and societies?
§ How does multiculturalism influence development and nation building (e.g., sustainability, subsistence economies)?
Deadline for submission: November 30, 2013
All manuscripts must be based on original material and must not be under consideration by any other journal. Manuscripts should include authors' names, affiliations, and appropriate contact information on the title page. Abstracts should be no longer than 250 words. Manuscripts should conform to the journal guidelines of American Behavioral Scientist (http://abs.sagepub.com/). Please direct all inquiries and submissions to edng@dal.ca.
About the Editors
Eddy Ng is an Associate Professor at Dalhousie University, Canada. His research focuses on employment equity and affirmative action, managing diversity for organizational competitiveness, and career issues for women, minorities, older workers, and the millennial generation. He has served as Chair for the Gender and Diversity in Organizations Division of the Administrative Sciences Association of Canada. His co-edited book (with S. Lyons and L. Schweitzer), Managing the New Workforce: International Perspectives on the Millennial Generation (Edward Elgar) was recently published in December 2012.
Regine Bendl is an Associate Professor at Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU Vienna), Austria. She does research on Gender and Diversity Management and (Gender) Subtext in Organization Theory. She has published refereed articles and books and received several awards. She is editor of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion – an International Journal and of Diversitas – Zeitschrift für Managing Diversity und Diversity Studies. Together with Inge Bleijenbergh, Elina Henttonen and Albert Mills she is currently editing the Oxford Handbook on Diversity in Organizations (forthcoming 2014). She is President of the Austrian Society for Diversity (ASD).
Irene Bloemraad is Associate Professor, Sociology and the Thomas Garden Barnes Chair of Canadian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. She is also a Scholar with the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. Her research examines the intersection of immigration and politics, with emphasis on citizenship, immigrants' political and civic participation, and multiculturalism. In addition to articles published in journals spanning the fields of sociology, political science, history and ethnic/ migration studies, she has authored or co-edited Rallying for Immigrant Rights (2011), Civic Hopes and Political Realities (2008) and Becoming a Citizen (2006).
--
Ed Ng, PhD
Associate Professor, Organizational Behaviour
Dalhousie University