AP/HREQ 3561 6.00
Racism, Human Rights, and the Law in Canada
This course examines the history of racist laws and practices in Canada in relation to the rise of progressive human rights acts. Laws pertaining to immigration, assimilation, and security are explored, including the Indian Act, the continuous journey provision, and the War Measures Act.
The course explores the relationship between race and the law. It analyzes the interplay of power, race, law and sociocultural context in Canada and abroad and the role and significance of state laws and policies in the social and legal construction and regulation of race in post-colonial Canada. Its examines critically theories and applications of law in reference to diverse minority groups. It explores the nature of social differentiation in society in regard to ethnoracial and intergroup dynamics in everyday life, and will be triangulated around the key concepts of legal normativity, culture, social power and ideology. It analyses the relationship between law and society, ethnicity, race, gender and social class as they relate to the many dimensions of inequality and domination, resistance and collective empowerment, in Canada and beyond. The emphasis will be on the legal institutions, the structures and patterns of social action in Canada, related to the social forces of prejudice, stereotyping, discrimination and racism. It covers key contemporary diversity issues in racism and other-isms in the context of institutional structure and society. Topics will be drawn from the following: the state and immigration policy; immigrants and minorities in the labour market; immigrant and minority youth; immigrants and minorities in electoral politics.
Course credit exclusion: AP/MIST 3561 6.00 Racism and the Law (prior to Fall 2017).
Prerequisites: 24 credits