Download The Case of Youth in Scouts Canada - Youth Conference

Joan Marshall
Adjunct Professor
Department of Agricultural Economics
McGill University
21,111 Lakeshore
Ste. Anne-de-Bellevue, QC
H9X 3V9
[email protected]
Civic Participation and the Immigrant Experience:
The Case of Youth in Scouts Canada
Paper prepared for Workshop on
“Citizenship on Trial: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Political Socialization of Adolescents”
McGill University, Department of Political Science
June 20-21, 2002
This paper is based on a two year study, 1997-1999, that was supported by Heritage
Canada through its Multiculturalism programme. Two main themes defined the study objectives:
(1) to explore the ways in which immigrant youth are integrated into and adapted to Canadian
society through youth activities; and, (2) secondly, to examine the extent to which mainstream
Canadian institutions are adapting to new cultural realities, associated (in the case of Scouts
Canada) with increased participation by non-Canadian youth.1 For this workshop, this paper
focuses on the first, the relationships and experiences of immigrant youth in Scouts Canada.
I shall explore the links between cultural identities and political socialization for youth
whose positions in mainstream Canadian society are marginalized in their relations with the
dominant culture. Political socialization becomes a significant element in the process of
redefining their identities, central to the new habitus that describes their “becoming”. As Stuart
Hall has argued, there are at least two different ways of thinking about cultural identity. One
position defines it in terms of one, shared culture, based on common historical experiences;
while the second focuses on identities as being in a process of constant transformation. Identity is
a “production, which is never complete, always in process, and always constituted within, not
outside, representation” (Hall, 1990, 222).But, as Raymond Williams has made clear, culture is a
contested category that has multiple meanings (Williams, 1976, 1981). People contest and
struggle over the meanings of culture for identity, both individual and collective. Culture,
therefore, is necessarily and inevitably political. Culture is “a set of material practices which
constitute meanings, values and subjectivities” (Jordan and Weedon, 1995), and these practices
1
See Addendum for the ten study questions.
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involve relations of power. Furthermore, the institutions which construct and reproduce cultural
traditions (such as Scouts Canada) practice processes of inclusion and exclusion which tend to
reflect broader social power relations. The degree to which individuals can choose forms of
identity is circumscribed by social power relations. “The cultural politics of marginalized groups
point to two important aspects of subjectivity: (1) the need for recognition, and (2) the need for a
feeling of agency. The need for recognition includes both the need to speak and the need to be
heard, that is to have one’s speech affirmed. To speak and be heard are empowering experiences”
(Jordan and Weedon, 1995, 550). This paper explores the processes of cultural transformation
that are intrinsic to any immigrant experience, and examines the ways in which youth, through
their involvement in Scouting, incorporate a politicized awareness into their cultural practices.
The processes of socialization and acculturation are shown to be complex manifestations of
changing subjectivities that are inherently political.
There has been extensive research related to the role of the school in the socialization
process of youth, and in its importance in the integration of immigrant children ( Ashworth,
1982; Aronowitz, 1984; Leman, 1991). However, there has been an astonishing lack of focus on
youth in the ethnicity literature in Canada, and very little study of voluntary institutions that
serve youth interests. Some of the studies focussing on youth have relied upon a positivist
perspective, correlating measures of marital status, parental educational and professional
characteristics, and survey data in order to examine successful programmes of adjustment
(Aronowitz,1992). Fewer studies have adopted a humanist stance, using qualitative methods to
elicit meanings and perceptions from immigrant youth themselves.
Relying upon extensive interviews and participant observation, my study drew upon the
personal stories and narratives of youth and their parents as a basis for exploring the various
ways that new Canadians are experiencing Canada, the particular meanings they attach to their
experiences, and their reasons for participating or not in Canadian institutions that have
historically catered to Canadian youth. Nine Scouting groups in five Canadian metropolitan cities
were selected, representing (a) “mixed” ethnicities in four groups, and (b) a different
ethnospecific group for each of the five cities, including Lebanese, Ismaili, Greek, Chinese and
Armenian.
“Habitus”, Symbolic Interactionism and Identity
The theoretical framework and the concepts on which this study is based are rooted in
the ideas of symbolic interactionism (Mead, 1934), the discussions of culture by Raymond
Williams (1976, 1981) and the concept of habitus as presented by Bourdieu (1984). As well, I
have drawn upon the ideas of Charles Taylor (1987, 1989, 1991) whose discussions of the
intrinsic importance of “self” and identities that evolve within a context of community, underpin
the basic research methdology. These ideas all emphasize the fluidity of identity formation, and
the reflexive relationship between structures and agency, as well as the ongoing dialectical
movement between history, context and experience. The particular value of habitus is that it
allows for a dynamic zone of contact between two cultures that is neither reified nor categorized,
and that emphasizes the inherently unstable subjectivities that define immigrant experience.
Migration is very much a process in time that relates to people’s pasts and to their hoped
for futures (Ogden, 1984; Boyle, Halfacree & Robinson, 1998). It is also a process explicitly
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linking social and spatial relations that has profound implications for community change. During
periods of migration, for both the movers and for the receiving community, identities are
necessarily being re-negotiated and re-shaped through complex networks of social relations and
institutions that ultimately define new communities. Insofar as the entire migration experience is
embedded in everyday lives, there will be inevitable tensions associated with new relationships
and new social networks. Migration studies challenge us to understand the processes of changing
meanings of community and place, as well as their inextricable relationship to identity. As has
been pointed out, the variety of types of migration (stepwise, return, circulation, chain, seasonal)
has precluded an all encompassing theoretical formulation of migration theory (Ogden, 2000,
504). But its significance in contributing to social and cultural change assures its centrality in the
development of social theory, with particular relevance for understanding sense of place,
community and identity (McHugh & Mings, 1996). There is increasing awareness that migration,
both international and internal, needs more attention not only in terms of economic causation but
also as a social process (Halfacree & Boyle, 1993). The move itself expresses a particular
worldview, infusing it with meaning as “an extremely cultural event” (Fielding 1992), through
which Bourdieu’s concept of “habitus” (1984) becomes central to our examination of the
changing dynamics of community life.
Habitus is a concept that mediates between objective and subjective realities, in that it
“enables an intelligible and necessary relationship to be established between practices and a
situation, the meaning of which is produced by the habitus through categories of perception and
appreciation that are themselves produced by an observable social condition” (Bourdieu
1984,101). The origin of the word is from the Latin verb, habere, to have or to be in condition.As
Bourdieu employed it, he was emphasizing the idea that habitus is creative and inventive
compared to the usual meaning of the word “habit” (Motola, Sinisalo, & Guichard, 1998).One of
the critiques of concepts such as society and culture is that they become objectified in order to
isolate and understand their characteristics. But, as Bottomley points out, “the truth of social
interaction is never entirely in the interaction as observed”, and we need to recognize the
structural constraints on perceptions (Bottomley, 1992, 12). Bourdieu’s concept of habitus
represents a mediating stance between social positions and practices in which the fluidity of
meanings can be seen as social products. The processes of culture are understood as objective
relations of power that are inherently political and that arise out of structures that constitute a
particular social environment. Habitus is the embodiment of history exemplified in a sense of
place that is “literally embodied, i.e. written on the body, in language and in particular ways of
being-in-the-world” (Bottomley, 1992,13). The importance of habitus to an understanding of the
role of migration in transforming a community, relates to its illumination of the relations of
contact producing new positions in social and historical space, and incorporating new categories
of perception and appreciation rather than a separation of the subjective and objective
experiences of cultural and social change. Implying a dialectical relationship between structured
circumstances and people’s actions and perceptions, habitus demands that we go beyond our
most revered dualisms. As Bottomley points out in her discussion of the concept, habitus
“manifests itself in practice, in action and movement, in the way one orients oneself in relation to
specific social fields (Bottomley, 1992, 123).
Related to Bourdieu’s concept is that of the symbolic interactionism of George Herbert
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Mead (1934) that implies a reflexive relationship between structured circumstances and people’s
actions and perceptions. In the context of renegotiated processes of identity formation and
migration flows, the transformative impacts of new worldviews in the community are shown to
be significant to redefining experience of habitus. In Mead’s view, the individual acquired an
identity by means of self-formation within a socially interactive framework of mutual recognition
and adaptation represented by the structure of community norms. The notion of process is
especially important because it emphasizes the essentially dynamic nature of identity, and that
identity is inherently unstable, dependent upon relations of difference. Layers of economic,
social and political relationships within particular contexts of history, migration and mobility
create “webs of significance” (Geertz 1973, 5) and lifeworlds of meaning. During periods of
migration, for both the movers and for the receiving community, identities are necessarily being
re-negotiated and re-shaped through complex networks of social relations and institutions that
ultimately define new communities. The ways in which new relationships evolve between social
structure and human agency is “different from place to place and depends crucially on the
particular arena of encounter” (Livingstone,1992, 357).
While I cannot summarize the extensive literature on place and community here, several
key points need to be made. Agnew (1987) identified three specific aspects of place or “locale”,
each of which contributes to the mediation between objective and subjective experiences: one
was the settings within which social relations are constituted; second was location, or the
geographical areas that encompassed the settings; and thirdly, was sense of place, or local
structures of feeling (Agnew, 1987). In examining the dynamic changes associated with
immigration, we must inevitably incorporate analysis of the implications for meanings of place
and the iterative relationship between new social networks and the nature of communities
themselves. Furthermore, as Massey and others have pointed out, a focus on place specificity
provides an excellent basis for understanding diversity and difference and the inequalities
generated by the changes wrought by social and economic restructuring (Massey, 1997; McHugh
& Mings, 1996). Massey’s concept of place as a progressive entity with open boundaries
emphasizes the social and cultural heterogeneity of places that are constantly being reconstructed.
Migration exemplifies this dynamic tension created in the flows of people, not only because of
their numbers but more significantly because of their own sense of belonging, or not, and their
personal and collective identities that themselves are in transition.
Habitus, Power and Political Socialization
I have already pointed out that cultural practices are intrinsically political, if only because
they are contested. The daily activities and rituals of meaning that define “belonging” for
Canadian immigrants require a consciousness and heightened awareness of what identity means,
and how their sense of self is being accepted, or not, by the majority mainstream culture. As
Kymlicka has pointed out, “immigrant groups do not want marginalization: they do not seek to
become isolated enclaves that do not participate in the larger society” (Kymlicka, 1998, 41).
Significantly, he is persuasive in arguing that multiculturalism policies that insist on dominant
culture linguistic literacy (English or French) are counter-productive, and that the most effective
way to integrate new arrivals is to allow choice, even if that means literacy classes first in their
mother tongue. Furthermore, despite Richard Gywn’s argument that multicultural groups are
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building “cultural walls”, Kymlicka’s position is that it may be mainstream Canadians who are
creating divides, and that the ethnocultural groups are striving for integration on their own terms.
Institutional separatism simply cannot be sustained, he suggests, because over time immigrants
will not only join mainstream institutions, they will also develop a psychological identification
with them. “Demands for multicultural accommodations, or proposals for new multiculturalism
programs, are not manifestations of an irrational virus of ‘identity politics’ or what Gywn calls
‘identity anger’ (Gwyn, 1995). They are serious attempts to deal with serious issues: What are
fair terms of integration? How can we make our democracy more representative?” (Kymlicka,
1998, 121). The political project that is demanded, he points out, is one whose aim is social
unity. “The real basis for social unity, I believe, is not shared values but a shared identity”
(Kymlicka, 1998,173).A report recently in the New York Times describes this important
distinction. It points out that in cities such as Sheffield, it is one thing to transform churches into
mosques, and “something else again to turn people who feel foreign into self-proclaiming
Britons” (New York Times, April 2002). “You can’t give your allegiance to a country that is
trying to exclude you”, said one Jamaican-born Briton. Acknowledging the difficulty of
determining how a shared identity might be defined, he nevertheless is convinced that a starting
point is history, “because it defines the shared context and framework within which we debate
our differing values and priorities” (Kymlicka, 1998,174). But crucially, there are two main
requirements. One is a need for the immigrant minorities to have a sense of inclusion in the
conversation, to be participants in the process of negotiating a Canadian identity; and, secondly,
they must have trust in the fairness of the system and political process. In a discussion of how
identities are defined for and by immigrant groups, one commentator examined the evolving
situation in California, where Latinos now account for over one third of the state population.
While numbers are important, he noted that a crucial factor in collective identity is the possibility
for upward mobility within the mainstream culture.2 This process of negotiating a new identity
within the new society is an intrinsically political process. My research on Scouts Canada
provides evidence that immigrant youth are engaging constructively in a process of renegotiating
their cultural identities, gradually affirming not only a mechanistic integration but also a
psychological integration into Canadian society. In the comments of Chinese youth who join
Scouting to learn about Canadian laws, and parents who are eager to learn about camping from
their children, there is clearly an outreach to new experiences and understandings.
Incorporated within the notion of culture as “relations of power” that I referred to earlier,
is the role of institutions in reproduction and transmission of these relations (Jameson, 1998).
Whereas corporations have taken on and been ceded a dominant role in cultural maintenance and
reproduction, smaller institutions such as the Scouts movement account for significant impacts
upon particular groups of people within society. Insofar as immigrant youth are amongst the most
vulnerable as well as the most open of social groups to the hegemonic forces of mainstream
culture, the potential importance of Scouts Canada in the integration of newcomers to this
country needs to be understood. As Jordan and Weedon explain, “subjectivity, meaning,
knowledge, truth and history are the material of cultural politics. How they are constituted and
2
Harry P. Pachon, Director of the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute; quoted in the New York
Times, March 11, 2001. Article by Susan Sachs, “Redefining Minority”.p.1.
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understood has profound implications for power relations in society. How we understand them
helps determine what we can change” (Jordan & Weedon, 1995, 563).
In The Sources of Social Power, Michael Mann analyzes processes of social change in a
framework that acknowledges the importance of power and explicitly rejects any unitary
understanding of “society”.While his book may be seen as an “historical” account, in fact his aim
is to provide “a developmental account of an abstraction” (Mann, 1986, 538), in order to
illuminate the non-determinate nature of social evolution. Societies “have always been
overlapping, intersecting power networks”, and social development has responded to both
internal and external processes of change, often in complex interactions between the two (Mann,
1986, 539). In his analysis of the sources of social power, Mann provides a model for considering
the connections between ideological, economic, military and political networks of power. In their
pursuit of many goals, human beings become involved in many networks of social interaction,
the boundaries of which do not necessarily coincide. As he shows, some networks have greater
capacity for organizing “intensive and extensive, authoritative and diffused, social cooperation
than others” (Mann, 1986, 27).
The four selected for consideration in his book represent those networks that combine the
greatest impacts of intensive and extensive power. The Scouts movement represents one
institution that is explicitly ideological, espousing strong normative understandings of how
people should act morally in their relations with each other; and relying upon tradition and ritual
practices in its ceremonies to promote a sense of collective affirmation. As Mann explains, we
cannot understand (and so act upon) our world based merely upon sense perception. We require
concepts and categories of meaning as a guide to behaviors and ultimate goals (Mann, 1986, 22).
He classifies two main types of ideological organizations, as (1) relatively autonomous and
sociospatially transcendent (such as the church), and (2) as immanent morale organizations
through which cohesion, confidence and power of an established social group (such as Scouts
Canada) provide the vehicle for affirming and strengthening social power of its membership. On
the other hand, this is not to deny the complex nature of social reproduction. As Thompson
argues, the “social cement theory of ideology” is too simplistic, not acknowledging that
individuals are “embedded in a variety of different social contexts” that are not necessarily
“animated by overarching values and beliefs” (Thompson, 1990, 90). There is no simple
consensual theory of social reproduction that can be retrofitted to the Scout movement. Indeed,
the common perception by the National Executive that “one size fits all” is a source of ongoing
tension for the ethnospecific groups. Nonetheless, for the ethnocultural groups that participated
in the study, there is evidence of a consciousness that, while not all elements in the dominant
ideology were to be emulated, the Scouts organization provides a significant framework for
understanding the values and belief structures of Canadian society. As Thompson suggests,
individuals differentially situated in the social order respond to and make sense of particular
symbolic forms in distinctive ways, regardless of institutional goals (Thompson, 1990, 91).
Political power “derives from the usefulness of centralized, institutionalized,
territorialized regulation of many aspects of social relations” (Mann, 1986, 26). Located at the
centre of territory, and directly linked to control of the state, political power is different from the
other three sources of social power described by Mann. However, insofar as political power
illuminates (and affirms) the cultural hegemony of the majority group, it overlaps and draws
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upon the other sources of power. Again, however, we must refer to the caveat so eloquently
elaborated by Thompson, that the use of the term ‘ideology’ does not imply acceptance of the
idea of discrete political doctrines or symbolic systems. Ideology is embedded in a wide range of
symbolic phenomena “which support forms of power in the social contexts of everyday life”
(Thompson, 1990, 85). The Scout movement is clearly at the nexus of cultural and ideological
systems, implicated and engaged in the local, national and international levels of political action.
Any analysis of the roles of Scouts Canada in the development of youth must take into
account the meanings it has for immigrants whose understandings have multiple sources and
whose concepts of self within a larger habitus are being re-negotiated on a daily basis. The
significance of Scouting as a means of reproducing an ideological framework cannot be
overstated. In particular, its power as a network for transmitting cultural meaning and providing a
basis of political understanding is linked doubly to its international reach and its organizational
spread across Canada. For all the ethnocultural groups in the study, there had been either
personal experience with or a perception of Scouting in their home countries. In Canada, the
programme and activities are seen specifically as a means to socialization and acculturation, and
explicitly, as some of the interviews make clear, as a means to social and political power.
Habitus and Scouts Canada
As educators have long understood, the field of education is crucial in the development of
a durable cognitive scheme of a child. Similarly, education plays a fundamental role in the theory
of social habitus through the interiorization of perceptions, thoughts and actions that define
identity and an evolving habitus. Education through the formal school system is one important
vehicle of socialization. But a youth institution such as Scouts Canada has the structure,
organization and goals to also perform significant roles of education, socialization, and even
acculturation, such that for many immigrant youth it has been of key importance in the transition
to a new habitus of meaning and being. In Bourdieu’s vision, “education is the space where
ruling groups in society impose their values and life-style upon the dominated groups. Therefore,
cultural habitus inculcated at home passes through a special process of restructuring” (Motola,
Sinisalo, Guichard, 1998, 46). Furthermore, as the literature on adolescents makes clear, “Being
part of a group, and deriving one’s identity from the group, are among the benefits which young
people seek from associating with others of their own age” (Cotterell 1996, 23).
The transitional and fluid nature of the immigrant experience in relation to specific
encounters, both individual and collective with the institutions of the new country, are reflected
in the evolving habitus of the Scouting groups I shall describe. As became apparent in my
research, the areas of tension between ethnospecific Scouting groups and the national
organization reflected this inherent dynamic of cultural change for both sides. The nature of the
dynamics varied, moreover, between ethnospecific groups. The reasons for participating in
Scouts, and the degree of resistance to various elements of the proscribed activities, varied
amongst ethnic groups, social classes of immigrants, and between generations. Even within
apparently homogeneous cultural groups, there are distinctive sub-groups and cleavages that
resist generalized definitions of cultural identity and belief structures. As research has shown,
“migration is an open-ended process that differentially affects the experiences of various
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generations” (Suarez-Orozco & Suarez-Orozco, 1995,324). As these authors describe,
immigrants commonly view and experience their lives not in ways defined by the majority
society, but in terms of the values and expectations of their historic culture. In other words, their
sense of identity and their new habitus is framed within a duality of meanings that is in constant
motion. Indeed, while there may be a drive to improve their economic and social positions
compared to their former lives in their home countries, and for many there is great pride in
retaining the traditions of their ancestors, there is also a common dissonance that can be
described as a “defensive identity”, resisting assimilation even as they selectively adopt new
values and priorities (Vigil, 1988, quoted in Suarez-Orozco & Suarez-Orozco, 1995). As the
concept of habitus makes clear, the processes of adaptation and assimilation are complex, and are
defined by multilinear characteristics, reflecting a variety of alternatives rather than a single
dominant direction of change.
Two basic issues in the research on ethnocultural minorities are (a) whether they
emphasize the value of maintaining their cultural identity and characteristics, and (b) whether
they stress the value of maintaining relationships and contact with the dominant group (Berry et
al., 1987; Liebkind & Kosonen, 1998). During the course of my research with five different
ethnospecific Scout groups, it became apparent that some groups emphasized the importance of
the first, while others were motivated by the second of these two distinct world views. Despite
this tendency to focus on one or other of these, there was evidence (such as in the case of the
Calgary Chinese group) of ambivalent attitudes to a definite “choice”, as well as of a strong
sense of responsibility to participate in the mainstream society. Furthermore, for young people
the stresses of adaptation are even greater than for their parents, with the result that adults may
actively solicit avenues of group activity for their children. As research has shown, there is a
common problem for immigrant youth of loss of self-esteem. Membership in social groups such
as Scouting “fosters self esteem and encourages self expression and positive attitudes toward
goal achievement and educational attainment. It serves as a forum to facilitate communication
and promote self acceptance” (Lopez, 1991).Ultimately this tension reflects the two
complementary processes integral to the immigrant experience: integration into the community
by the individual or family, and absorption of the newcomers by the mainstream society.
Scouts Canada - a brief summary of its organization and history
Before describing the methodology that was used for the research, it will be helpful to
provide a very brief summary of some background to the organization and history of Scouts
Canada. There is a distinctive culture that characterizes Scouts Canada that reflects both the
formal structures and goals of the organization, and the relationships amongst its various levels
and groups within it. This institutional culture can be seen almost as a habitus that mediates
between mainstream Canadian society and the various ethnic groups that join the organization.
On the one hand, the goals and values of Scouting derive from a long and conservative tradition
that has its roots in colonialism and the imperial designs of Great Britain. On the other hand, it
espouses a respect for democratic ideals, service, civic participation, and for the importance of
environmental conservation that seem to affirm values attributed to the Canadian state.
Interestingly, both of these somewhat dichotomous threads of heritage are reflected in the
differing ways the five ethnospecific groups have engaged with Scouting in Canada.
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Scouting is a worldwide organization for youth, ages 5 to 26, started in Britain by Lord
Baden-Powell in 1907, whose military background contributed to its philosophy of being able to
survive in the wilderness. The purpose of the Scout movement is to “contribute to the
development of young people in achieving their full physical, intellectual, social and spiritual
potential as individuals, as responsible citizens and as members of their local, national and
international communities”. As a worldwide organization many newcomers to Canada have
participated in Scouting in their home countries, and many leaders in ethnocultural communities
understand the aims of the movement from personal experience. The international basis of
Scouting provides an important link to immigrant groups in this country. While originally allmale, today in Canada it is co-ed in all sections. It is organized around “Groups”, that are made
up of “Sections”, and through all levels of the organization there are two parallel streams of
volunteers, uniformed and non-uniformed. In addition, there is a professional staff, at both the
National and Provincial levels. The table below summarizes the uniformed side of the
organization, in which the youth are registered, at the local community level. Table 2 summarizes
the various categories of membership for the organization across Canada. Important to this story
are many aspects of the recruitment and training of leaders, programme development, and locally
specific programme delivery, none of which can be addressed here. Suffice it to say, that the
maintenance of a culture of Scouting is embedded in every element and every level of the
organization. But what became clear to me in the course of the research, is that the ethnospecific
groups represented an interesting form of resistance to the dominant culture within the
framework of the institution. Without manifestly stating a divergent view of Scouting, the
ethnospecific groups were able to mediate a flexible border of change that provided both security
and empowerment that allowed for a significant measure of acculturation to Canadian
institutions, even as they were struggling to affirm their traditional ethnic identities.
Table 1
Local (Community)
Table
Structure
for 2Scouting
Membership in
Canada (Oct.2001)
GROUP - headed by a
Methodology
Group Committee
Y
In the original formulation of the study outline, I contacted the National Executive of
outh (Canada, 170,000)
ScoutsGroup
Canada
in Ottawa in order to secure their support for the research. They not only
Committee
supported
the spirit of the study, they provided a reference letter to the funding agency (Heritage
composition:
Canada), and contacts to
the several Executive Directors in each of the four Provincial areas in
Chair
P
which I would be working.
An important
part of the early discussions was identification of issues
Secret
a
that
Scouts
Canada
officials
considered
significant,
and which I was able to incorporate into the
ary, Treasurer, Publicity3
r
framework
study. With these direct referrals, I was able to arrange meetings with both the
(optional) -of
allthe
non-uniform
e in each of the five cities I had selected for my study: Toronto,
professional
and
volunteer
officials
volunteers
n
Repre
t were the focus of the study are appended at the end of the
The
ten
questions
sentative from each Sectionwhich
paper.
s
(uniformed volunteers)
3
SECTIONS:
Beavers (ages 5-7) -
-
Colony
C
ubs (ages 8-10) - Pack
S*
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Calgary, Vancouver, Ottawa and Montreal. The discussions with the professional staff were
helpful in determining which Scout Groups might be interested in participating, my request in
each city being for two groups that represented (a) an ethnically mixed Group, and (b) an
ethnospecific Group. Furthermore, in order to provide for variations in cultural adaptation,
values, perceptions, and integration within the context of Scouting, I selected five different
ethnospecific Groups: Toronto = Greek; Ottawa = Lebanese; Montreal = Armenian; Calgary =
Chinese; Vancouver = Ismaili. The “mixed” Groups, identified by the staff, were incorporated as
“control” groups, against which various activity patterns could be assessed. Of all the Groups
designated by the staff, only the Ottawa “mixed” Group decided not to participate in the study.
The next step was to arrange meetings with the individual Groups, inviting as many of the
interested Committee members, leaders, and parents as possible to attend. These “plenary” fora
allowed for my introduction by the Provincial Executive, providing an effective opportunity to
make a presentation of the study outline, including discussion of ethics guidelines and
distribution of information sheets and consent forms. Numbers of attendees varied from about
thirty in Vancouver, to fewer than ten in Calgary. This was a crucial step because it allowed for
full disclosure of the methodology, that involved participant observation of Section meetings (by
graduate student research assistants), and interviews of leaders, parents and youth, in that order.
Every Section (Beavers, Cubs etc) in each of the nine Groups, was visited, in some cases
several times, for the duration of the meeting. While the notes taken by the research assistants
vary in the information provided by this basic observation process, this part of the research
established the dynamics and rhythm of individual meetings, as well as the levels of parental
involvement at both formal and informal levels of participation. As well, we were able to
determine the extent to which languages other than English, and various religious traditions, were
incorporated into regular meetings. Especially important as well, was documentation of the
interaction patterns amongst the young people and the leaders, for both the ethnospecific and the
“mixed” Groups.
The fourth major phase of the study involved intensive interviews with all participants in
the Scouting programme. In chronological order, I interviewed, (1) Group Committees and
leaders in focus groups, (each of the nine Groups in the five cities); (2) parents; and (3) youth.
The research protocol is summarized in Table 3.
Table 3
Research Protocol
* All sections
of
Civic Participation
& Political
Socialization
Scouting
(from
Beavers
to
As pointed out earlier in the paper, the stated purpose of the worldwide Scouts
Rovers, agesis5 to
- 25
years); to the development of young people so that they are enabled to
organization
contribute
In five Canadian
become *“responsible
citizens and members of their local, national and international
cities thatcivic participation and engagement in the political processes that define
communities”. Clearly,
have
highest objectives of the Scout programme. Analysis of the Scout4
participation, are
fundamental
rates of
4
Use of immigration:
the word “Scout” refers to the entire organization (all sections) unless it is
Toronto,
explicitly a reference
to a Scout Troop.
Vancouver,
Montreal,
-10Ottawa &
Calgary;
* In each city, two
types of
Scouting
programme through the awarding of badges and the requirements for various honours, provide
indisputable evidence of organizational goals that encourage youth involvement in service in the
community, engagement with different levels of governance, and learning about areas such as
environmental conservation. There is also a strong link between membership in Scouting and
religious affiliation. This is not surprising given that to be a member of Scouting, as part of a
formal ceremony at the beginning of each meeting, one must promise to believe in God. The
high level of volunteerism in Scouting also reflects the well established correlation between
religious affiliation and the propensity to donate time and financial resources to volunteer
service. In other words, the strong tradition of volunteerism and service in Scouts Canada is part
of the “volunteerism” and community service described by the studies carried out by the
Canadian Centre for Philanthropy, and are directly connected to religious affiliation.
I shall focus the following discussion on those findings that are most relevant to the
question of political socialization, while at the same time recognizing that these outcomes are not
separate from other findings. They are also clearly in no sense reified nor without complexity
and ambiguity. I shall begin with a comparison of the “mixed” (multicultural) and ethnospecific
Groups generally, then describe the variations amongst the ethnospecific Groups.
The “mixed”(multicultural) and ethnospecific groups : a comparison
The mixed groups in each of the cities were deliberately selected in consultation with the
Scouts Canada staff, as maximally diverse groups. All four of them (Ottawa chose not to
participate), included young people from a variety of linguistic, racial, and religious
backgrounds; and for all four, the membership was drawn from a geographically concentrated
area. However, the demographics varied substantially in the details, especially with respect to
percentages compared to mainstream Canadians, ethnic representation amongst the leaders, and
reflection of surrounding community ethnicity. Whereas in Toronto the sections all reflected the
surrounding community structures and the leaders were drawn from various ethnic groups, in no
other city was this the case. In Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver, while there were some youth
from minority cultural groups, the leadership was virtually all mainstream, white, and English
speaking. Significantly for the question of institutional change, moreover, the ethnicity patterns
in the surrounding communities in which the meeting locations were situated were not
proportionately reflected in the youth membership.
The contrasts for all three criteria to the ethnospecific groups are striking. Widely
dispersed memberships in relation to the meeting sites; leadership drawn from their own ethnic
communities; and homogeneously representative youth memberships, describe the main
demographic characteristics of all five ethnospecific groups. Perhaps the most distinctive element
defining difference was in the choice of language. In all ethnospecific groups except the Ismaili,
the main language of the meetings was other than English. In the case of the Ismaili, their history
as a diaspora from several countries (Kenya, Pakistan, and Britain) explain the non-use of
Arabic. But there are other contrasting characteristics that suggest important ways in which the
groups differ ideologically. For example, all four of the multicultural groups had higher
proportions of single-parent families and two-income parents compared to the ethnospecific
groups. Reflecting these demographics, but also related to perceptions of family values, were the
higher numbers of volunteer men in the ethnospecific groups, and the younger average ages
1.
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amongst the leadership. In fact, a comparison of the patterns of involvement between the
ethnospecific and multicultural groups gave a clear picture of higher rates of engagement
amongst the immigrant-dominated groups. The implications of this were clearly illuminated
through the interviews.
As several Chinese parents told me, it was important for them that their sons learn about
Canada, but they emphasized that they too were eager for the opportunity of sharing in their
children’s experiences. Unlike the multicultural groups, the Chinese youth who participated in
the ethnospecific group felt comfortable in making mistakes because others were in the same
situation. Nevertheless, in Toronto where the multicultural group included Chinese leadership,
one mother told me that she had initially wanted to join the ethnospecific group because her son
was “so small” compared to mainstream Canadians. But she changed her mind when she realized
how many other Chinese children were in the much closer, local “mixed” group. Another
distinction between the two main categories of Scout Groups was in the reasons for joining
Scouts. Whereas the “mixed” groups focussed on activities such as camping and games,
members in the ethnospecific groups had a variety of different reasons. One Ismaili youth said “it
looked good” on his Curriculum Vitae, noting that part of his cultural identity is linked to a
commitment to community service. Yet another distinction between the two categories is in the
significance and understanding of political dimensions. Amongst the youth membership in the
mixed groups there was only limited understanding of political process, or of the various levels
of governance that defined their activities. For this discussion, in the particular context of this
workshop, I shall turn to a closer examination of the five ethnospecific groups themselves.
2.
Ethnospecific Groups - political socialization and civic participation
The immigrant histories of all five groups have clearly created a heightened awareness
and understanding of the political realm. Their identities, their priorities, their choices all reflect
a level of politicization that far exceeds that of mainstream Canadians. The determination to
“succeed” was invariably described in relation to higher education for the youth, at the same time
as they described the importance of retaining the cultural traditions of their communities. The
Ismailis met at a mosque, which served as a significant community centre for a wide variety of
activities. The reality of their worldwide diaspora and their dispersed residential locations in
Vancouver, were spatially compensated for in the sense of coming together in the vibrant activity
of their mosque. In describing the importance of the Scouting connections and community
participation, one Ismaili parent told me that her son would be receiving the Queen’s Scout
Award, the highest award in Scouting. But, he would be receiving this, not through a formal
Scouts Canada ceremony, but at the annual celebration of their Ismaili community, held in the
large coliseum. The significance of receiving this award in front of his ethnocultural community
lay both in the affirmation of his success within a Canadian institution, and in the
acknowledgement of his service to the community.
For the Armenians in Montreal, there is an especially strong sense of political awareness
because of their history of persecution and diasporic migrations. For the youth, whose meetings
are all in Arabic, but whose religion is Orthodox Christian, the “memories” of the 1915 genocide
by the Turks, and their participation in annual parades of remembrance, are constant reminders of
the centrality of political action in everyday lives. To the chagrin of the Provincial Council of
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Scouting, the Armenians have actually formed a separate structure, within the “Armenian
General Sports Union” for their Scout groups. Their brochure talks about “patriotic pride” and
their organization of Homenetmen being the “largest benevolent sports and scouts organization
in the Armenian Diaspora. While Scouting provides an important vehicle for both affirming
their own cultural identities in the context of their histories of displacement and, as well, coming
to terms with and integrating the social and cultural meanings of Canada, in the case of these
Armenians the institutional links are clearly in tension.
For the Greeks in Toronto, celebration of their “National Day” in March is a central event
marked by a parade through a Greek area of the downtown core. For the Scouts there is an
opportunity to lead the parade, and to be seen by their cultural community as leaders in a
Canadian institution, at the same time as they are explicitly affirming the importance of political
pasts for their cultural identities. In the case of the Lebanese in Ottawa, whose meetings are also
held in Arabic but whose faith community is Muslim, the families are less affluent than either
the Armenians or the Greeks, many having come as refugees pushed out by the war in their
country. For these youth, most of whose families have arrived in the past two decades, stories at
home recall the desperation of leaving a war torn country. Their understanding of politics is
embedded not only in family memories but in recent lived experience. Their participation in
Scouts provides a sense of secure introduction to Canadian institutions, without the stresses of
having to cope with a mainstream language. Again, as with all of the ethnospecific groups, the
spatial distribution of their homes is widely dispersed across the city, indicating the importance
attached not merely to membership in a local Scout group, but membership particularly in a
Lebanese Scout group. They too participate in the wider celebrations of their cultural community,
providing, as one interviewee described it, the “entertainment” for the end of the fast of
Ramadan. The importance for their public presence in such a significant event is twofold - it both
acknowledges their leadership and participation in a Canadian institution, and it recognizes their
cultural heritage. For the teenagers, the affirmation of this dual sense of belonging is both a
political statement and evidence of their civic participation in their cultural and local
communities.
Concluding Thoughts
The interrelational connections between culture and politics, between ideology and an
evolving habitus, and between Canadian society and local communities of meaning, are complex.
That an institution such as Scouts Canada is playing a crucial role in the political socialization of
youth is indisputable. The future challenge for the organization, however, is to incorporate
change throughout its own structures, programmes and patterns of training and leader
development. That question has not been addressed here. To an important degree, the distinctive
characteristics of the mixed and ethnospecific groups is a response to institutional resistance to
change. What can be seen as enormously encouraging for ongoing civic participation in this
country, it seems to me, is the level of engagement by the ethnospecific groups. As pointed out
earlier in this paper, they do not want to remain marginalized; and their separateness within the
Scouting organization is a direct response to exclusionary behaviours by both the organization
and by Canadian society at large. Scouts Canada provides a sensitive glimpse into the processes
of cultural change. This paper has summarized one aspect of this complex process, that of
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political socialization.
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Acknowledgements
I wish to express appreciation to Heritage Canada for the funding for this study, without which
my research could not have been accomplished. As well, I am grateful for the dedicated
assistance of Beth Stanger, Christine Racicot, Janet Pivnick, and Mary Lee Maurel, all of whom
provided invaluable insights through their detailed notes during many evenings of participant
observation at Scout meetings. Most of all, I am grateful to Scouts Canada for allowing me the
opportunity to undertake such an interesting and, I believe, important study. In particular, Rob
Stewart, Rick Tracy, Alamin Pirani, and Doug MacDonald all provided invaluable ideas and
support. But it was the warm reception that I received from all of the community leaders and
parents that made this work so enjoyable, and such an enriching experience. Certainly I am
indebted to many, many people, who shared parts of their lives with me, and in so doing, have
contributed to a broader understanding of an evolving Canada.
Addendum
Questions Framing the Study
(source)
1.
To what extent is the strength of Scouting in particular ethnocultural communities
positively associated with the goals of Scouting, or to what extent is it a defense against
exclusion? (Olson & Kobayashi, 1993)
2.
Are the youth members participating in Scouting as a refuge from the city; or as a focus
of immigrant life, as a spatial and psychic relationship to a “little homeland”? (Olson &
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Kobayashi, 1993)
3.
a) Are the motivations, perceptions, and expectations of newcomers who join Scouts
Canada the same as those of mainstream Canadians? As one Scouts official asked, “Do
they feel as ‘connected’ to the organization? (Tracy, Interview)
b) the follow-up, from a practical perspective, would be: Is there any difference in
perceived connectedness a “problem”? Does it need to be addressed or changed? Is it
possible to be changed?
4.
Does Scout leadership from within their own community support identity formation for
newcomers, helping them to preserve some old ways while also adapting to new urban
milieux? (Zucchi, 1988, 141).
5.
Is Scouts Canada perceived as an institution within the ethnocultural communities that
serves to affirm elites and leaders within their communities? (Zucchi, 1988, 142). How
important is it to have leaders from their own ethnocultural communities? (Stewart,
Interview).
6.
To what extent can Scouts Canada be seen as a Canadian institution that is involved in
perpetuating stereotypes and myths about the “Other”? In other words, we know that
identity is more than self-definition, that is directly related to the reflexive association
with those who do the naming; and it is important that this research examine issues
around the construction of collective notions of what Scouting is and how that image is
incorporated into understandings of ethnocultural communities. (Anderson, 1991, 250).
7.
Directly related to this academic question is the question posed by Scouts Canada: In
view of the fact that the decision-making levels of the organization do not reflect the
cultural diversity of Scouting, what processes have created this situation; and how can
they be changed? (Tracy, Interview).
8.
With respect to the broader youth membership, questions about participation were raised
by Scouts officials: a) Are there obstacles to joining Scouts, perceived or real? b) What
role do specific cultural definitions and values, such as those attributed to “volunteerism”,
“family”, and male-female roles, have in their relationship to Scouts Canada? (Milliere,
Interview).
9.
Scouts Canada officials are aware that the uniform raises questions: a) To what extent is
it a negative image, such as being viewed as militaristic? b) Is cost a barrier? c) Is it
perceived as a unifying link to Canada, or as a link to remembered Scouting links in the
home country? (Stewart, Interview)
10.
Related to Question 6, is Scouting seen to be in real partnership with the ethnocultural
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community, or is it viewed as the “Other”? Is the tendency to “send in” trainers and
service Scouters seen as an “us” and “them” process that negates stated goals of
integration? (Stewart, Inteview).
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