Call for Book Chapters: “Communities Falling Apart: Continuities and Changes in Multicultural Settlements”

Vernon Press seeks chapter contributions for a forthcoming edited volume titled “Communities Falling Apart: Continuities and Changes in Multicultural Settlements”.

Multiculturalism is arguably a fundamental aspect of contemporary western society that has garnered diverse reception. It has been the source of diversity (positive) and social disunity (negative). Multiculturalism stands as the most recent development of race relations in ethnic studies; therefore, to study the contemporary theory of race, it is vital to consider cultural diversity as a constitutive aspect of that theory. Multiculturalism is not only a descriptive or even normative concept; instead, it is more appropriate to consider it as a pragmatic concept. Accordingly, to understand race and race relations, multiculturalism is vital in deciphering some, often neglected, aspects of ethnic and racial experiences, not only in particular settings like Britain but equally elsewhere in Western liberal communities. When Nathan Glazer declared that “we are all multiculturalists now” (1997), he may have meant that multiculturalism has become a tangible fact and an irreversible reality. This collection builds on such an assumption and argues that the “factuality of diversity” made multiculturalism an inevitable fact of everyday experiences in ethnocultural communities. However, the multicultural settlement has come under increasing backlash from different theoretical, cultural, and political orientations (Vertovec and Kymlicaka, 2010). This collection attempts to trace the aspects of such a backlash, its nature, and consequences in the various experiences of Western societies (Britain, USA, Canada, etc.). Equally, it is argued that the novel discourses of post-multiculturalism bear seeds of continuities and changes of the multicultural settlement.

Relevant questions this collection seeks to answer include: How can we build a new social contract that ensures trust between people of varied backgrounds in multicultural communities? What are the best ways to build tolerant, multicultural communities? How can community leaders soothe the fears of their fellow citizens and build integrated communities? What roles does western civil society play in the new post-multicultural settlement? What role does conceptual terminology play in the re/configuration of contemporary race relations in multicultural societies?

Contributors are encouraged to elaborate on topics such as:

• Changing definitions of multiculturalism and post-multiculturalism.
• Natures, processes, and consequences of multiculturalism and post-multiculturalism; in particular political, cultural, and social contexts.
• Descriptive and normative accounts of multiculturalism and post-multiculturalism.
• Multiculturalism and the politics of social cohesion.

The book will cover the issues of the ideology of multiculturalism, politics of identity, Immigration and globalization, politics of difference, Islamophobia, Westophobia, etc.

This publication seeks to add to ongoing debates regarding the relevance and desirability of multiculturalism as a strategy of managing difference (on its various levels) in contemporary Western societies. Comparatively, it seeks to identify the flaws and merits of different multicultural experiences of different societies with special emphasis on the Anglophone world. Different approaches to multiculturalism, post-multiculturalism, and interculturalism are considered.

Contributors are expected to submit chapters that broach relevant aspects of multiculturalism and its variants. Chapters should not go beyond 10,000 words and need to comply with the technical requirements of the APA style (7th edition). All submissions should be sent to Volume Editor Hassen Zriba (hassen_zriba@yahoo.fr) by 31 March 2023.

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