“Old” natives and “new” immigrants: beyond territory and history in Kymlicka's account of group-rights
“Old” natives and “new” immigrants: beyond territory and history in Kymlicka's account of group-rights

Author(s): Darian Heim
Subject(s): Migration Studies
Published by: Transnational Press London
Keywords: Old natives; new immigrants; beyond territory; Kymlicka's account; group-rights; Chinese; Canada;
Summary/Abstract: Imagine that the Chinese in Canada claimed the same rights as the Québécois. This would involve among other things a public administration and schools run in Chinese or a regional Chinese parliament with wide-ranging autonomies. However, some might reply, none of the institutions needed to sustain Chinese culture in Canada have been created so far. Such scepticism notwithstanding, this example can be revealing for discussing the underlying normative question: on what grounds are the rights of “old” minorities, as the Québécois, different from “new” immigrant groups, such as the Chinese? The answer, for some, lies in the fact that the Québécois – and not the Chinese – have a history on their territory.

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