Mosaic/Canada

Gregory A. Finnegan (Gregory.A.Finnegan@DARTMOUTH.EDU)
Wed, 15 Dec 1993 13:17:07 EST

I'd posted a note directly to the original enquirer, but enough has been
pondered since about the Canadianess of "mosaic" to warrant a general posting
My reply on Monday was to refer the questionner to

Author: Porter, John A.
Title: The vertical mosaic; an analysis of social class and power
in Canada
Imprint: [Toronto] University of Toronto Press [1965]
Series: Studies in the structure of power: decision-making in
Canada, no. 2.

I've checked further & found the following in THE CANADIAN ENCYCLOPEDIA
(1988):

"VERTICAL MOSAIC, a term used by sociologist John PORTER to convey the
concept that Canada is a mosaic of different ethnic, language, regional and
religious groupings unequal in status and power. Porter published his book,
VERTICAL MOSAIC...in 1965. "Mosaic" is often contrasted with the American
concept of "melting pot." The Canadian John Murray Gibbon, in his book THE
CANADIAN MOSAIC (1938), disapproved of the American melting-pot policy,
according to which immigrants and their descendants were discouraged from
maintaining close ties with their countries and cultures of origin and
instead were encouraged to assimilate into the American way of life. Many
Canadians pointed with pride to the alternative Canadian policy...
...
Since 1965 several studies have shown that the picture sketched by Porter has
been modified only slightly [in re lessening of econ. gaps betw. groups.] ...
The economic elite, still dominated by those of British origin, has changed
very little. The book earned Porter the prestigious American Sociological
Assn's McIver Award." p. 2254-55 (vol. 3.) (by Frank G. Vallee.)

(the entry for Porter, also by Vallee, begins "Regarded by many as Canada's
leading sociologist, he published his most important book, THE VERTICAL
MOSAIC, in 1965." (p. 1726/vol. 2.) Porter's career was mainly at Carleton
U, of which he was eventually Acad. V-P; his dates are 1921-1979.) Since
Trudeau didn't become PM until 1968, the concept was clearly around long
before the Govt. picked it up. I recall seeing books arguing/refining
Porter's views, so the term is both alive in Canadian Soc Science and in
political/popular usage.

I'll paste in a cite to the 1938 book:
Author: Gibbon, John Murray, 1875-
Title: Canadian mosaic; the making of a northern nation.
Illustrations in colour by Kathleen Shackleton, W. J. Phillips
[and others]
Collation: xiii, [12], 455 p. illus. plates (part col.)
Imprint: New York, Dodd, Mead & company, 1939.

Greg.Finnegan@Dartmouth.edu
Reference-Bibliographer
& Adjunct Assoc. Prof. of Anthro.
[and great-grandson of NWMP Constable Robert E. Allan & Ft. Qu'Appelle [SK]
CPRR telegrapher Anna Maria Johnston]
Dartmouth College Library
6025 Baker Library, Room 104
Hanover NH 03755-3525
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