Multiculturalism, neoliberalism and immigrant minorities’ involvement in the formation and operation of leisure-oriented ventures

Abstract

This study draws on Foucault’s concept of the ‘entrepreneur self’ to broaden understandings of the links and intersections between the normative prescriptions of multicultural citizenship in Canada and immigrant minorities’ involvement in the formation and operation of leisure-oriented ventures in the Windsor-Essex region of southwestern Ontario. Using participant observation and semi-structured interviews, our findings indicate that participation in the formation and operation of leisure-oriented organisations is an important medium for immigrant minorities’ effective use of power. A space and a channel to assert and resist ethno-cultural identities and a strategy to break down barriers and create opportunities for themselves and others to participate in a wide range of leisure traditions and practices – in short, a technique employed by study participants to assert their membership in Canadian society and to lay claims to full and equal citizenship rights.

Keywords:

• multiculturalism
• neoliberalism
• immigrant minorities
• Foucault
• ethnicity