The Politics of Multiculturalism. A Ukrainian-Canadian Memoir (review)

Multiculturalism is a topic in Canadian society which never loses its significance and occasionally surfaces as the focus of heated discussion among its supporters and opponents. Some of the current confusion concerning multiculturalism as a policy is due to the fact that an actual history of its roots and developments does not exist. The Politics of Multiculturalism at least partially fills some of these gaps as a memoir of Manoly Lupul, a third-generation Ukrainian Canadian and retired professor of the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta. Lupul, a key proponent of the concept of multiculturalism, was actively involved in the creation and implementation of provincial and federal multiculturalism policies, both as an individual advocate and through institutions such as the Canadian Consultative Council on Multiculturalism or the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies. The book's fifteen chapters cover Lupul's childhood, his studies, his sabbatical in Eastern Europe, his academic life as a professor, and his involvement in multiculturalism issues and the Ukrainian-Canadian community up to the mid-1990s.

Addressing these varied topics, the book speaks to several audiences. It gives an insight into Lupul's approach towards multiculturalism, expressed through excerpts from briefs submitted to the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, and featuring speeches and articles written by Lupul himself. As the author illustrates, after multiculturalism was accepted as a federal policy, the process of influencing and facilitating its implementation proved laborious, causing Lupul's subsequent frustration with it. Being an educator himself, Lupul appreciated the role and importance of language and language education in the context of cultural survival. This important aspect of the multiculturalism discussion permeates the entire book. As the years went by, federal multiculturalism policy shifted its focus from cultural preservation to the fight against racism, while increasingly ignoring the initial goals voiced by Lupul (and many other Ukrainian Canadians). Furthermore, the book is also the story of a third-generation Ukrainian Canadian rediscovering his ancestral roots and evaluating his own, as well as the community's, role in a multicultural Canada. Important in this context are the reminiscences of his family's trip to Ukraine, which not only form one of the most enjoyable parts of the book, but also give us an idea why he developed a heightened interest in the survival of the Ukrainian language and culture. Travelling through Soviet Ukraine convinced Lupul that the country and its people were being russified and that Ukrainians in the diaspora had to preserve the Ukrainian culture and language.

Being a memoir and not a historical study, this book serves as an insight into one man's opinions and approaches to issues of multiculturalism, language education, and community development. Nonetheless, these are valuable and significant records of one of the most active Ukrainian-Canadian participants during the late multiculturalism debate. Furthermore, he offers glimpses into Ukrainian-Canadian community developments, often criticizing its deep regional and ideological frictions and inadequacies, most pointedly of the Ukrainian Canadian Committee. Since he became particularly active in the Ukrainian Canadian Professional Business Federation during the course of the multiculturalism discussion, the development of this organization is also mirrored. Scholars of multiculturalism and ethnicity in Canada will find The Politics of Multiculturalism for the most part engaging as well as informative. Those interested in Ukrainian-Canadian studies will find a treasure-trove of insider information and observations, but will at the same time realize that an academic history of the ucc and the general community's development during the 1970s and 1980s has yet to be written. The abundance of information can serve as an excellent resource, but also proves a detriment to the 508-page book. The often meticulous recollections of individual meetings, conferences, and submissions of recommendations over the course of thirty years become repetitive and test the reader's attention. Furthermore, Lupul often quotes correspondence with, or statements of, fellow participants of the discussion without providing footnotes or references that could facilitate future...