Dangerous (Internal) Foreigners and Nation-Building: The Case of Canada

Abstract

In this article we develop a theoretical framework attuned to the relationship between discourses of security, race/racialization, and foreignness. Applying this framework to three historic instances of Canadian national insecurity (Japanese-Canadian internment, the Front de libération du Québec crisis, and the Kanehsatake/Oka crisis), we argue that “foreignness” is produced and regulated in historically specific ways with consequences for how “the nation” is viewed. We demonstrate how this is especially evident in relation to racialized constructions of “internal dangerous foreigners.” Our framework and findings invite larger disciplinary consideration of the post-September 11 security environment both in and outside Canada.

Looking into the Hearts of Native Peoples: Nation Building as an Institutional Orientation for Graduate Education

“…Nation building in the mainstream sense refers to a national project that privileges domination and power over citizens. In this frame, nation building has primarily been concerned with aspects of belonging (citizenship), national identity, language, and rights within in a larger global context (Dhamoon and Abu-Laban 2009;Etzioni 2009/10). Moreover, US nation building has historically prioritized the individual rights of citizens as the primary concern of its laws and elected officials (Honig 2001;Ong 2003).…”

Identités religieuses musulmanes

“…Ces discours utilisent souvent des images stéréotypées des musulmans (voir notamment Eliassi 2013 ;Kumar 2011 ;Ahmed & Matthes 2017 ;Powell 2011 ;Saleem et al 2017) et sous-entendent une question embarrassante -celle de l'incompatibilité ou non de la religion et des identités musulmanes avec les sociétés occidentales (Savard 2016). Ces discours marginalisant et altérisant sont normalisés auprès des journalistes et des dirigeants gouvernementaux (Savard 2016 ;Dhamoon et Abu Laban 2009 ;Brahimi 2015) et sont profondément liés aux discours sur la diversité, la cohésion sociale et l'intégration.…”

Pacification and Indigenous Struggles in Canada

“…The justification for use of overtly coercive or "hard" policing tactics is legitimized by the unreasonableness and irresponsibility of individuals who do not exercise their rights "properly" through "neutral" and "objective" (that is, liberal) legal and political processes or institutionalized forms of protest. Racialization and racist discourse furthers the othering of Indigenous peoples engaged in disruptive direct actions as the "uncivilized" Other -the "internal dangerous foreigner" in the settler colonial state (Dhamoon and Abu-Laban 2009). The logic of securityliberalism neutralizes the threat of resistance by attempting to institutionalize it within "legitimate" liberal democratic channels while also providing legitimization for the state's use of overt and covert repression to manage potential threats to "public safety" -i.e.…”