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Social Statistics and Ethnic Diversity: an overview

Social Statistics and Ethnic Diversity: an overview. Victor Piché University of Montreal International Conference on Social Statistics & Ethnic Diversity CIQSS and INED Montreal 6-8 December 2007. Introduction. A very preliminary overview A lot of question marks???

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Social Statistics and Ethnic Diversity: an overview

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  1. Social Statistics and Ethnic Diversity: an overview Victor Piché University of Montreal International Conference on Social Statistics & Ethnic Diversity CIQSS and INED Montreal 6-8 December 2007

  2. Introduction • A very preliminary overview • A lot of question marks??? • Organized around the three questions of the Conference: • Should we count? • Why? • How?

  3. Question 1: Should we count? • Overwelming YES • Particularly with respect to national (official) statistics • Historical sensibility (e.g. Hungary?) • However: 2 qualifications • Could be dangerous in certain cases (e.g. health clinics): not taboo but sensitive • Need to integrate gender and social class

  4. Question 2: Why should we count (or not)? • Links with typology suggested by Rallu, Piché and Simon • (See: Rallu, Jean-Louis, Victor Piché & Patrick Simon. 2006. « Demography and Ethnicity: an Ambiguous Relationship », in G. Caselli, J. Vallin & G. Wunsch (es), Demography: Analysis and Synthesis, Elsevier Press.

  5. Question 2: Why should we count (or not)? Typology of political uses of ethnic categories, four types of situations: 1) Counting for domination and exlusion: a thing of the past? • South Africa? Canada? USA? • Colonial (post-colonial ?) context: France? • Data manipulation in Sri Lanka?

  6. Question 2: Why should we count (or not)? Typology of political uses of ethnic categories: 2) Not counting for national integration and assimilation purposes: • Guinea? • France? • Germany?

  7. Question 2: Why should we count (or not)? Typology of political uses of ethnic Categories: 3) Counting or not although mixity is positively acknowledged: - not counting: most of Latin America in the past? Uruguay? - counting: Brasil in the past?

  8. Question 2: Why should we count (or not)? Typology of political uses of ethnic Categories: 4) Counting for anti-discrimination actions (policy monitoring function) - High consensus during conference - Many (most?) countries are now in this situation : Asia, Latin America, and emerging in Africa? - Interesting case studies on racial and ethnic inequalities were presented.

  9. Question 2: Why should we count (or not)? 4) Counting for anti-discrimination actions : Need to expand the rational for collecting ethnic data in order to: • Better understand and document diversity (knowledge function) • Facilitate integration (positive function)

  10. Question 2: Why should we count (or not)? Need to expand the rational for collecting ethnic data in order to: • Refine policy frameworks taking into account ethnic differences (policy formulation function) - Make « effective » the respect of human rights (human rights function)

  11. Question 3: how can we count? • Many key methodological suggestions: here are a few: • Need to implicate concerned groups in definition of categories

  12. Question 3: how can we count? • Need to redefine (improve) categories to take into account: • Fluidity (ethnic mobility) • New emerging indentities vs transnationalism and globalization • Multi-dimensional and multiple measures (expressed, perceived, observed, etc.) • Religion?

  13. Question 3: how can we count? • Importance of self-identification • Need to allow multiple choices of responses • Special challenges for certain specific groups: e.g. Aboriginals (America); Roma Community (Europe)

  14. Conclusions (5.1) 1. Word of caution with respect to the vocabulary: counting vs « comptage ethnique »: change for measures?, indicators?

  15. Conclusions (5.2) 2. There is no doubt: « counting » in the above sens is necessary to render visible what is invisible and thus either ignored or denied - global trend towards including ethnicity in census data?

  16. Conclusions (5.3) 3. Old categories need to be questionned and new categories need to be invented. If not, census ethnic data will become (are already?) obsolete.

  17. Conclusions (5.4) 4. Global multiculturalist shift (virage)?

  18. Conclusions (5.5) 5. Census is political, census categories are political and as researchers we must remain very critical in the use of such official statistics.

  19. A truly international conference • N= 40 papers, 22 countries North America: 14 (+ 6 posters) Europe: 12 New Zealand: 3 Latin America: 4 Africa: 3 Asia: 3 Global: 1

  20. THANK YOU

  21. A truly international conference North America: 14 Latin America: 4 • Canada: 9 (+ 5) - Brazil: 2 • USA: 5 (+ 1) - Mexico: 1 - Uruguay: 1 New Zeland: 3 Global: 1

  22. A truly international conference • Europe: 12 Asia: 3 • Belgium : 1 - Sri Lanka • France : 1.5 - Malaysia • Germany: 3 - East Asia • Great Britain: 1,5 • Hungary: 1 Africa: 3 • Romania: 1 - West • Regional: 3 - South - Guinée

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