The Promise and Limits of Multiculturalism / Les promesses et limites du multiculturalisme

This webinar was part of the City of Winnipeg’s Awareness & Action Speaker Series on June 27, 2024.
Multiculturalism, as both government policy and political philosophy, promises the possibility of widening the boundaries of Canadian national belonging. It his talk, Youcef Soufi presents the dominant theories and critiques of multiculturalism. Using the example of Muslims’ political mobilization against post-9/11 Islamophobia, he shows that multiculturalism has created a sphere for minority groups to contest social and economic marginalization. Nonetheless, a central blind spot in multicultural theory is the lack of attention to how intertwined global politics is to securing inclusion and the celebration of diversity at home.
Biography:
Dr. Youcef Soufi is a Researcher in Islamophobia, affiliated with the University of Manitoba’s Centre for Human Rights Research. He obtained his PhD at the University of Toronto’s Department for the Study of Religion, specializing in the history of Islamic legal thought and is a former Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia. His first book, The Rise of Critical Islam: 10th-13th Century Legal Debate (Oxford University Press, 2023) is nominated for several awards in the history of religion. His second book, Homegrown Radicals: A Story of State Violence, Islamophobia, and Jihad in the Post-9/11 World provides a critique of the War on Terror’s harmful impact on Canadian Muslim communities.