The Vertical Mosaic: An Analysis of Social Class and Power in Canada by John Porter (review)

This is a 50th anniversary edition of John Porter’s groundbreaking book published originally in 1965. It includes a new introductory essay by Jack Jedwab and Vic Satzewich which contextualises Porter’s book. They highlight the significant arguments that Porter made, as well as exploring the influences it has had on subsequent research in the field.

Porter’s Vertical Mosaic emerged in the context of the Royal Commission into Bilingualism and Biculturalism in the 1960s, which was situated in the historical framework of the way in which the British and French colonised the existing Aboriginal population of what later became Canada. One of Porter’s key themes was the different ways in which English-speaking Canada and French Canada dealt with increasing immigration to the country. Porter also quite strongly believed that it was non-English- speaking Canadian or non-French Canadians insistence on maintaining their cultures and languages that led to them being economically disadvantaged compared to their English-speaking or French Canadian counterparts. Therefore, Porter emerged as a strident critic of the official policy of multiculturalism introduced by Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau in 1971, which encouraged and offered support for Canadians of neither British nor French descent maintaining their cultures and languages in Canada. Porter drew attention to the existence of an elite in the country that was made up predominantly of old white men, who were mainly of British descent. In some ways an Anglo elite continues to dominate English-speaking Canadian society today, although the country has certainly come a long way in terms of political representation and the visibility of diversity in the media.

Porter heavily relied on census data in the 1950s and 1960s for his work. Subsequent research has highlighted the limitations of this, especially the categorisation of different ethnicities, that is ‘Canadian’, British and French and so forth. Several scholars have argued that rather than an emphasis on ethnicity as being the dividing marker between groups in terms of economic advancement, race is of much more importance, so visible minorities versus ‘white’. Recent research has also shown, however, that even these categories have challenges, as Canadian women of Asian descent for example do better in terms of employment compared to other racial groups in Canada, as well as Canadian-born white women.

I think what needs to be kept in mind is that Porter’s book was a product of its time. However, it was indeed groundbreaking, and continues to influence and inform research to this day. Many sociologists, in particular those who explore social class and power in Canada will no doubt already have the original edition of this book on their shelves, but for those who do not, the 50th anniversary edition is highly recommended, not least because of the interesting new introductory essay.