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“We are Not an Ethnic Vote!” Representational Perspectives of Minorities in the Greater Toronto Area

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 July 2015

Karen Bird
Karen Bird*
Affiliation:
McMaster University
*
Department of Political Science, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4M4, kbird@mcmaster.ca
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Abstract

This article examines the representational preferences of the represented, a perspective which has been largely neglected by political scientists in Canada. Using focus group interviews, I assess views of representation among three visible minority communities—black, South Asian and Chinese—within the urban and highly diverse setting of the Greater Toronto Area. Applying Hanna Pitkin's classic conceptual framework, I probe the multiple dimensions of political representation, examining the relative importance of its formal, descriptive, substantive and symbolic elements from minorities' perspective. Drawing on more recent advances in representational theory, I examine how minorities evaluate political actors' claims to represent them, and look at the “mobilizing objections” citizens raise in the face of such claims. Finally, I compare the three communities to assess similarities and differences in perceptions of representation along its various dimensions.

Résumé

Cet article se penche sur les préférences représentationnelles des personnes représentées politiquement, une perspective souvent négligée par les politologues canadiens. Me basant sur les données obtenues au cours de groupes de discussion, j’évalue les perspectives représentationnelles de trois groupes minoritaires – les communautés noire, chinoise et asiatique du sud – issues de la grande région de Toronto où cohabitent de nombreuses ethnicités. L'article examine, en s'appuyant sur le cadre conceptuel classique de Hanna Pitkin, la multiplicité des représentations politiques et se concentre sur l'importance relative des éléments formels, substantifs, descriptifs et symboliques du point de vue des minorités. De plus j'analyse, en m'appuyant sur les récents progrès sur la théorie de la représentation, comment les minorités évaluent les affirmations des politiciens sur ce qui touche leur représentation, ainsi que les ‘objections mobilisatrices’ que ces citoyens soulèvent envers de telles affirmations. Enfin, j'essaie d’évaluer si des différences perceptuelles vis-à-vis de la représentation existent dans ces trois communautés.

Type
Immigration and Identity Politics in Canada
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 48 , Issue 2 , June 2015 , pp. 249 - 279
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association (l'Association canadienne de science politique) and/et la Société québécoise de science politique 2015 

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