PLAN 502: WEEK 8
PLANNING IN A MULTICULTURAL SOCIETY
HOUSEKEEPING ITEMS
• I WILL HAND BACK THE OUTLINES TODAY.
• TODAY WE HAVE A SPECIAL GUEST, CHRISTINE BROPHY, WHO WILL PICK UP THE
THREAD OF OUR DISCUSSION ON DIALOGUE AND CO-OPERATIVE DECISIONMAKING.[I HAVE PUT HER SLIDES ON THE WEB SITE]
• THEN WE WILL TALK ABOUT THE READINGS ON “RACE, GENDER AND CLASS.”
• SOME ADDITIONAL RESOURCES THAT ARE MORE SPECIFIC TO CANADA:
URBAN CANADA (3RD ED.), ED. BY HARRY HILLER (OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2014)
– CHAPTERS 8, 9, AND 11. [AVAILABLE AS AN E-BOOK THROUGH THE LIBRARY]
“VISIONING DIVERSITY: PLANNING VANCOUVER’S MULTICULTURAL COMMUNITIES”
BY ROBERT SHIPLEY AND JOYCE UYESUGI, INTERNATIONAL PLANNING STUDIES
08/2005, VOLUME 10, ISSUE 3. [AVAILABLE THROUGH JOURNALS SEARCH]
“Scratchy” outtake from
my PhD thesis;
By the way, how were
the field trips with Larry
Beasley and Charles
Montgomery?
FOLLOW-UP TO LAST WEEK
• WE DIDN’T GET TO WATCH THE VIDEO CLIP ON ROBERT OWEN. I WILL SHOW THAT NOW:
“FROM HARMONY TO REVOLUTION.”
• ALSO: B.C. HAD ITS OWN UTOPIAN COMMUNITIES. SOINTULA (“PLACE OF HARMONY”) ON
MALCOLM ISLAND NEAR ALERT BAY AND PORT MCNEIL IS THE OUTGROWTH OF ONE.
• FOUNDED BY FINNISH MINERS AND THEIR FAMILIES WHO WERE SICK OF WORKING IN LORD
DUNSMUIR’S NANAIMO’S MINES. THEY ROWED BOATS ALL THE WAY UP TO THE CURRENT SITE
IN 1901 AND ESTABLISHED A COOPERATIVE SOCIALIST COMMUNITY.
SOINTULA
• IT WAS A HARD LIFE AND TWO YEARS LATER A FIRE KILLED THREE
ADULTS AND EIGHT CHILDREN. THAT, AND FINANCIAL HARDSHIP,
ALMOST FINISHED THE COMMUNITY. EVENTUALLY IT DISBANDED, BUT
THE RESIDENTS OF SOINTULA ARE LARGELY THEIR DESCENDANTS.
• THE COMMUNITY EVENTUALLY PROSPERED DOING LOGGING AND
FISHING UNTIL A DOWNTURN IN THE 1970S.
• THE SOINTULA COOPERATIVE STORE, THE OLDEST IN THE PROVINCE,
STILL SELLS DRYGOODS, GROCERIES AND FUEL FOR ISLANDERS. IN
ADDITION THERE IS A COOPERATIVE BAKERY, WILD ISLAND FOODS,
WHICH SERVED FINNISH BREAD (PULLA) AND HOME-COOKED MEALS,
BUT IT GAVE THAT UP IN 2008. THE MALCOLM ISLAND SHELLFISH
COOPERATIVE WAS INVOLVED IN RESEARCH ON THE FEASIBILITY OF
RAISING AND SELLING ABALONE, BUT IT CLOSED IN 2006 FOR
FINANCIAL REASONS.
PLANNING FOR RACE, GENDER, AND CLASS
• THE FIRST ARTICLE, BY IRIS MARION, YOUNG, FOCUSES ON THE THEME THAT “DIFFERENCE IS NOT
IDENTITY.” BY THIS SHE MEANS THAT WE COULD BE BLACK, FIRST NATIONS, GAY, MUSLIM, OR A WOMAN,
AND IT DOESN’T MEAN WE HAVE IDENTICAL POLITICS, IDEOLOGIES, VIEWS ON LIFE, RELIGIOUS BELIEFS,
OR EVEN MUCH SOLIDARITY WITH OTHERS IN OUR OWN ‘GROUP’.
• EVEN WHEN THERE IS AN “US VS. THEM’ MENTALITY, IT IS OFTEN A FACTOR OF HISTORICAL CONDITIONS.
THE DISPARATE GROUPS THAT NOW MAKE UP ‘THE MAORI’ NEVER THOUGHT OF THEMSELVES AS SUCH
UNTIL THE COLONIZATION PROCESS GAVE THEM A COMMON INTEREST. THERE WAS ALSO NOT A LOT OF
LOVE LOST BETWEEN CERTAIN FIRST NATIONS GROUPS.
• HOW DO EACH OF YOU IDENTIFY YOURSELF? MANY OF US HAVE MIXED IDENTITIES. ETHNICALLY I’M
SCOTTISH, ENGLISH, WELSH, GERMAN, WITH A SMIDGEN OF FRENCH. I DON’T PARTICULARLY IDENTIFY
WITH ANY HOMELAND – ENGLAND PERHAPS MORE THAN THE OTHERS, AND I WOULD LIKE TO LEARN
MORE ABOUT WALES. I’M OBVIOUSLY A PRIVILEGED WHILE MALE, RATHER BOOKISH, ON THE LEFT,
PASSIONATE ABOUT MUSIC, AND ABOUT ISSUES CONCERNING THE BUILT AND NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS.
I’M GLAD CANADA CAN BEGIN TO REDEEM ITSELF NOW THAT HARPER’S GONE, BUT I’M NOT A RABID
NATIONALIST.
PLANNING FOR RACE, GENDER, AND CLASS
• YOUNG ARGUES THAT “A MASSIVE EMPIRICAL LITERATURE SHOWS THAT THE MOST CONSISTENT
PREDICTOR OF ADULT INCOME LEVEL, EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT, AND OWNERSHIP OF ASSETS IS THE
CLASS SITUATION OF ONE’S PARENTS.” THIS IS WHAT SHE, PAUL BLAU, AND ANTHONY GIDDENS REFER
AS “STRUCTURE” – I.E. SOCIAL HIERARCHY. DO YOU AGREE WITH THIS STATEMENT? IT MAY BE
SOMEWHAT CONTRADICTED BY MY EXPERIENCE WITH VIU UNDERGRADS.
• ON THE OTHER HAND, I HAVE SEEN THE INGRAINED “CULTURE OF POVERTY” IN PLACES LIKE DETROIT, A
SITUATION MADE VASTLY WORSE BY THE COLLAPSE OF THE AUTO INDUSTRY.
• YOUNG POINTS OUT THAT OPPRESSION CAN ALSO BREED PRIDE AS WITH THE BLACK EMPOWERMENT
MOVEMENT OF THE ‘60S AND ‘70S, AND THE SELF-ASSERTION OF THE DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE
NEIGHBOURHOOD IN VANCOUVER.
• IN CANADA, THE GROUPS WE NEED TO LOOK AT ARE RATHER DIFFERENT THAN THE U.S. APART FROM
AN HISTORICAL POPULATION OF AFRO-CANADIANS IN THE HALIFAX-DARTMOUTH AREA, MOST BLACKS
ARE FROM THE CARIBBEAN IN TORONTO AND MONTREAL, WITH THE LATTER CITY HOSTING MAINLY
HAITIANS. TORONTO IS THE MOST MULTI-CULTURAL CITY IN THE WORLD!!
PLANNING FOR RACE, GENDER, AND CLASS
• INSTEAD OF LATINOS BEING FROM MEXICO (APART FROM SOME FARMWORKERS
AND MEATPACKERS) OR PUERTO RICO, MANY ARE REFUGEES FROM THE FORMER
PINOCHET REGIME IN CHILE AND OTHER COUNTRIES THAT HAD OPPRESSIVE REGIMES.
WE ALSO HAVE A LARGE POPULATION OF ASIANS, ESPECIALLY ON THE WEST COAST
– ESPECIALLY FROM MAINLAND CHINA, HONG KONG, INDIA (PARTICULARLY SIKHS),
AND THE PHILIPPINES.
• IN THE PAST, THE CHINESE WERE OFTEN WORKING CLASS OR SMALL BUSINESSPEOPLE. TODAY, THEY ARE MORE APT TO BE QUITE WEALTHY AND, IN SOME CASES,
DEVELOPERS/ REAL ESTATE INVESTORS AND THE LIKE. A RECENT STUDY SHOWED THAT
70% OF THE HOMES BEING PURCHASED IN CERTAIN VANCOUVER NEIGHBOURHOODS WERE BEING BOUGHT BY CHINESE BUYERS, ESPECIALLY MORE EXPENSIVE
HOMES.
• THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE IS THE LARGE NUMBER OF URBAN FIRST NATIONS,
ESPECIALLY IN WINNIPEG, VANCOUVER, AND SOME OF THE CITIES IN NORTHERN
ONTARIO. CHAPTER 9 IN HILLER DEALS WITH THIS ISSUE.
PLANNING FOR RACE, GENDER, AND CLASS
• SOME SAY THAT CANADA IS RATHER UNIQUE IN THAT IT OPERATES ON A “SALAD BOWL” MULTICULTURAL
MODEL, RATHER THAN THE “MELTING POT” MODEL PREVALENT, BUT NOT REALLY OCCURRING, IN THE U.S.
• IN MANY COUNTRIES – SUCH AS GERMANY, THE NETHERLANDS, AND FRANCE – IMMIGRANTS, EVEN AFTER
GENERATIONS, FEEL THEY FACE SYSTEMATIC DISCRIMINATION IN HOUSING, EDUCATION, AND
EMPLOYMENT. UNTIL NOT SO LONG AGO, TURKS COULD NOT EVEN BECOME CITIZENS OF GERMANY
EVEN IF THEIR PARENTS HAD BEEN BORN THERE. IN THE GULF STATES, ‘GUEST WORKERS’ FROM INDIA AND
THE PHILIPPINES, ETC. ARE NOT ALLOWED RESIDENT STATUS AND ARE TREATED QUITE SHABBILY. RACISM IS
ALSO PREVALENT IN CHINA AND JAPAN.
• WHILE THERE IS MUCH RACISM IN CANADA, ONE SEES MUCH MORE MINGLING OF DIFFERENT ETHNIC
GROUPS THAN IN MANY OTHER PLACES AND MORE VISIBLE MINORITIES IN POSITIONS OF AUTHORITY.
HOWEVER, CANADA TURNED AWAY JEWS FACING THE HOLOCAUST AND THERE’S THE HISTORY OF THE
CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT AND RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS.. THERE ARE STILL HOT-BUTTON ISSUES, HOWEVER,
SUCH AS THE ATTEMPT BY HARPER TO WHIP UP SENTIMENT AGAINST WOMEN WEARING THE NIQAB,
AND WANTING TO BAN ITS USE IN CITIZENSHIP CEREMONIES.
PLANNING FOR RACE, GENDER, AND CLASS
• DOES THE POLITICS OF DIFFERENCE THREATEN DEMOCRACY, AS ELSHTAIN BELIEVES THROUGH THE
ENCOURAGEMENT OF PAROCHIALISM AND A LACK OF COMMON PUBLIC SPIRIT? WHAT DO YOU
THINK?
• HERE WE GET BACK TO THAT DISCUSSION WE’VE ALREADY HAD: IS THERE IS A COMMON (I.E. PUBLIC)
GOOD AND, IF SO, WHAT IS IT? AS YOUNG POINTS OUT, WE MUST AT LEAST SCRUTINIZE WHETHER
THE NORMS BEING UPHELD ARE THOSE OF THE WHITE MIDDLE OR UPPER CLASS, THOSE OF MEN, OR
THOSE OF THE HETEROSEXUAL MAJORITY.
• OTHER POINTS: SHE MENTIONS THAT GEOGRAPHER DAVID HARVEY, BRILLIANT THOUGH HE IS, CARRIES
ON WITH THE MARXIST OBSESSION WITH CLASS – IS THAT REALLY THE CENTRAL ISSUE ANY MORE?
• MOREOVER, WHILE WOMEN ARE GRADUALLY ACHIEVING MORE PARITY IN THE WORK WORLD, BUT
THEY STILL OFTEN FACE A DOUBLE BURDEN IN THAT THEY ARE VERY OFTEN EXPECTED TO BE THE
PRIMARY CAREGIVERS AND PARENTS AT HOME, NOT TO MENTION HOUSEKEEPERS. WHAT IS YOUR
EXPERIENCE WITH THIS ISSUE?
PLANNING FOR RACE, GENDER, AND CLASS
• WILL HIT JUST A FEW HIGHLIGHTS WITH THE OTHER ARTICLES.
• MANNING THOMAS POINTS THAT “RACE’ IS A SOCIAL CONSTRUCT, AND HAS BEEN USED TO JUSTIFY
SLAVERY AND COLONIALISM. THE NOTION OF THE “MASTER RACE” DID NOT BEGIN WITH HITLER. OVER
TIME, ‘RACE’ HAS BECOME A SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY, AS WITH THE LEGACY OF RACISM IN THE
POST-CIVIL WAR SOUTH THAT CONTINUES UP TO THE PRESENT.
• PEOPLE WE CALL “WHITE” RANGE FROM ICELANDICS TO PEOPLE FROM THE CAUCUSUS AND BEYOND,
AND THOSE WE CALL BLACK INCLUDE AN EXTRAORDINARY RANGE OF SUB-SAHARAN AFRICANS OF A
BEWILDERING ARRAY OF TRIBES AND ETHNICITIES AND THEIR DESCENDANTS, SOME OF WHOM ARE
MORE WHITE THAN BLACK (BEYONCÉ KNOWLES?).
• THOMAS POINTS OUT THAT PLANNERS THEMSELVES ARE OFTEN OF THE DOMINANT ETHNIC GROUP
THUS MAKING IT DIFFICULT FOR THEM TO SERVE AS A BRIDGE TO SO-CALLED ‘MINORITY’
COMMUNITIES (IN PARTS OF GREATER VANCOUVER, CHINESE-CANADIANS ARE BECOMING THE
MAJORITY).
PLANNING FOR RACE, GENDER, AND CLASS
• IN THE U.S., ETHNIC SEGREGATION IS STILL EXTREMELY WIDESPREAD. THIS IS LESS THE CASE IN
CANADA. ANY EXPERIENCES WITH THIS? (THE BRITISH PROPERTIES IN NORTH VANCOUVER USED
TO HAVE EXPLICIT COVENANTS ON PROPERTY TITLES FORBIDDING THE SALE OF PROPERTIES TO
CHINESE PEOPLE).
• IN GENERAL, SHE CONCLUDES, THE PLANNING PROFESSION NEEDS TO BE MUCH MORE DIVERSE
IN MEMBERSHIP. AT LEAST IN CANADA, APPROXIMATELY 40% OF ALL PLANNERS (AT LEAST IN THE
CIP) ARE WOMEN, COMPARED TO ONLY 25% IN THE U.S. AND BRITAIN.
• THOUGH THOMAS DOES NOT DISCUSS THIS, MALE PLANNERS ARE OFTEN NOT SENSITIVE TO
ISSUES OF IMPORTANCE TO WOMEN, WHO OFTEN EXPERIENCE THE CITY VERY DIFFERENTLY THAN
MEN. CANADIAN PLANNING ACADEMIC, GERDA WEKERLE, WAS INVOLVED IN A PROJECT A
NUMBER OF YEARS AGO IN WHICH THEY SURVEYED TORONTO WOMEN ABOUT WHICH SUBWAY
STATIONS MADE THEM FEEL MOST UNCOMFORTABLE AND WHAT COULD DONE TO IMPROVE
THEM (E.G. ELIMINATE BLIND CORNERS, IMPROVE LIGHTING, ETC.)
PLANNING FOR RACE, GENDER, AND CLASS
• THOMAS GOES ON TO DISCUSS THE ACTUAL REALITY OF WHAT HAPPENED IN TERMS OF
“WOMEN’S LIBERATION” UNDER COMMUNISM.
• FRISCH TALKS ABOUT PLANNING “AS A HETEROSEXIST PROJECT.”
• HE REVIEWS THE EVOLUTION OF THOUGHT THAT DEFINES “HOMOSEXUAL” AS
ABNORMAL.
• HE MENTIONS THAT THE PRESENCE OF GAYS HAS SOMETIMES LED TO GENTRIFICATION;
INDEED RICHARD FLORIDA HAS SAID THAT ONE MEASURE OF WHETHER A COMMUNITY
WILL BE ATTRACTIVE TO THE “CREATIVE CLASS” IS WHETHER IT HAS A HIGH “GAY INDEX”
(I.E. A LARGE GAY POPULATION INDICATES DIVERSITY AND TOLERANCE).
• HE NOTES THE HETEROSEXISM OF MANY OF PLANNING’S FOUNDERS, SUCH AS PATRICK
GEDDES AND LEWIS MUMFORD.
• HE ALSO NOTES THAT EARLY PLANNERS AND PROPONENTS OF ZONING OFFERED THE
CONQUEST OF “CHAOS” AND THE PROMOTION OF OPTIMAL “HEALTH AND MORALS” AS
THE PRINCIPAL GOAL OF PLANNING.
PLANNING FOR RACE, GENDER, AND CLASS
• EVEN JANE JACOBS SPEAKS DISPARAGINGLY OF A PARK KNOWN AS A CRUISING GROUND
IN PHILADELPHIA, BUT NOTES THAT THE MARGINALIZED SEEK TO PURSUE THEIR LIFESTYLES IN
THE UNDER-UTILIZED SPACES OF SOCIETY.
• MOST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES HAVE ALSO PROHIBITED HOMOSEXUAL ACTS, EVEN IN PRIVATE.
IT WASN’T UNTIL THE PASSING OF THE CRIMINAL LAW AMENDMENT ACT, 1968-69 ACT THAT
THE CRIMINALIZATION OF HOMOSEXUALITY WAS PROHIBITED IN CANADA. AS TRUDEAU SAID
FAMOUSLY AT THE TIME: “THE STATE HAS NO BUSINESS IN THE BEDROOMS OF THE NATION.”
• DOLORES HAYDEN, ONE OF THE GIANTS OF PLANNING THEORY, NOTES THAT THERE HAVE
TRADITIONAL BEEN THREE MODELS OF HOME: 1) THE HOME AS HAVEN (AND THE PLACE
WHERE WOMEN BELONG, FOUNDED ON A STRICT DIVISION OF LABOUR BETWEEN MEN IN
THE PUBLIC SPHERE AND WOMEN IN THE PRIVATE SPHERE). HOW MANY PEOPLE GREW UP
WHERE THAT MODEL WAS PREVALENT?
PLANNING FOR RACE, GENDER, AND CLASS
• 2) THE HOME AS INDUSTRY WHERE ALL DOMESTIC DUTIES ARE TRANSFERRED TO A
FACTORY SITE AND THOSE WHO DO THE WORK ARE PAID WAGE LABOUR. AND 3)THE
NEIGHBOURHOOD STRATEGY WHERE WOMEN WOULD CARRY OUT THE WORK ON A
COOPERATIVE MODEL IN ADEQUATE FACILITIES SHARED WITH OTHER WOMEN (AND,
HOPEFULLY, MEN).
• IN 1993, THE U.S. PASSED THE FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT. “IT REQUIRES
EMPLOYERS WITH OVER FIFTY WORKERS TO PROVIDE UP TO TWELVE WEEKS OF
UNPAID [EMPHASIS ADDED] LEAVE FOR ‘CERTAIN FAMILY AND MEDICAL REASONS,’
INCLUDING CHILDBIRTH, ADOPTION, AND THE NEED TO CARE FOR A SPOUSE, CHILD,
OR PARENT WHO IS SERIOUSLY ILL…” (PP. 368-369). CONTRAST THIS WITH THE
LEGISLATED PROVISIONS IN SWEDEN!
• FOR MORE ON THE IMMIGRANT EXPERIENCE AND RACE IN CANADA, SEE CHAPTER 8
IN HILLER. FOR MORE ON GENDER ISSUES, SEE CHAPTER 11 BY THE PREVIOUSLY
MENTIONED GERDA WEKERLE.