Promising practices and new directions in multiculturalism and anti-racism programming

Based on a cross-jursdictional review of academic and government literature discussing a variety of anti-racism and multiculturalism policies, programs and strategies in Canada, the U. K., Australia and New Zealand, this document presents a set of eight promising practices and three new directions that may be used to evaluate and inform future anti-racism and multiculturalism programming. [...] Issues complicating analysis of existing anti-racism and multiculturalism include the complex social, political and historical context of anti-racism and multiculturalism as concepts guiding government policy and programming; the wide range and breadth of actual anti-racism and multiculturalism programming; issues raised by bureaucratic approaches to anti-racism and multiculturalism programming; t [...] Recognizing the long-term detrimental social impact of inequality, racism, discrimination and social exclusion, government policy and programming aims to address and ameliorate these problems through a variety of approaches to foster awareness of and appreciation for cultural difference, educate both majority and minority groups about the effects of racism and strategies for its elimination, and r [...] Over the past few decades, the intersection of increased waves of immigration from non-European countries and a greater understanding of the effects of colonization on First Nations peoples has increased public pressure on the Canadian government to confront and ameliorate the legacies of a violent and exclusionary history of early nation-building policies. [...] However, as Garcea (2006) comments, and as this scoping review confirms, more research is required to both document the range of actual programs and practices in place, and to determine the effectiveness of these programs and practices in eliminating barriers to the full participation of all ethnic and cultural groups in a respectful and inclusive Canadian society.