Vertical Mosaic. In this book are gathered ten of his outstanding essays, written over a period of twenty-five years. Porter's well-known ex-student Wallace Clement provides the introduction for this volume, and Richard Helmes-Hayes has compiled an updated bibliography of writings by and about John Porter.

Fifty years later, the book retains vast significance both for its powerful critique of social exclusivity in a country that prides itself on equality and diversity and for its influence on generations of sociological researchers.

Social Inequality in Canada brings a comparative perspective to the question of the uniqueness of Canadian society. Do Canadians believe they can succeed on the basis of their own abilities? And how do they compare with Americans, Germans, Italians, Australians and Russians? There is much debate as to how Canadians differ from or resemble citizens of other countries, particularly the United States.

This book , The Author addresses the following issues: how and to what effect judicial action has changed since the adoption of the charter, both at the national level and in Quebec; howjudges seek to reconcile particular groups claims with the sense of community integral to a free and democratic society; the implications of these and other developments for interest group advocacy, particular within parliament; and means of strengthening the voice of under represented groups within elected institutions.

Does multiculturalism ‘work’? Does multiculturalism policy create social cohesion, or undermine it? Multiculturalism was introduced in Canada in the 1970s and widely adopted internationally, but more recently has been hotly debated, amid new concerns about social, cultural, and political impacts of immigration. Advocates praise multiculturalism for its emphasis on special recognition for cultural minorities as facilitating their social integration, while opponents charge that multiculturalism threatens social cohesion by encouraging social isolation. Multiculturalism is thus rooted in a theory of human behaviour, and this book examines the empirical validity of some of its basic propositions, focusing on Canada as the country for which the most enthusiastic claims for multiculturalism have been made. The analysis draws on the massive national Ethnic Diversity Survey of over 41,000 Canadians in 2002, the most extensive survey yet conducted on this question. The analysis provides a new and more nuanced understanding of the complex relation between multiculturalism and social cohesion, challenging uncritically optimistic or pessimistic views. Ethnic community ties facilitate some aspects of social integration, while discouraging others. For racial minorities, relations within and outside minority communities are greatly complicated by more frequent experiences of discrimination and inequality, slowing processes of social integration. Implications for multicultural policies emphasize that race relations present important challenges across Quebec and the rest of Canada, including for the new religious minorities, and that ethnic community development requires more explicit support for social integration.

In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.

The possibility of Quebec's departure has long haunted Canadian politics, and English-speaking Canadians have resisted such a break. But why, and how, does Quebec's membership in the existing constitutional order matter to Canadians outside Quebec?