The fourteen essays in this specially commissioned collection explore the ongoing debate, “the national narrative” about the character and objectives of Canada as a nation state. They address matters of national concern, including Canada’s place in world affairs, the evolving characteristics of Canadian nationalism, the structure of material life during the revolution in advanced communications, the changing nature of citizenship and the implications of ethnic diversity and national loyalties for the Canadian polity. Writers come from a variety of disciplines, bringing their own scholarly approaches and often unique perspectives to issues of common concern.

The questions raised in this book have a long shelf life in Canadian intellectual dialogue but they are also timely in the post 9/11 environment in which what it means to be “Canadian” is sometimes a matter of life and death.

Contributors include Robert Cupido, Brian and Geraint Osborne, Stephane Levesque, Nicole Gallant, Andrew Nurse, Raymond Blake, Judy Bates, Jane Ku, Cameron Bodnar Manju Varma, Sarah Wayland and Hector MacKenzie.