The Future of Canada's Water - UBC Press

EQUALITY | SECURITY | COMMUNITY SERIES
Racing to the Bottom?
Provincial Interdependence in the
Canadian Federation
Edited by Kathryn Harrison
Social Capital, Diversity, and the
Welfare State
Edited by Fiona M. Kay and Richard Johnston
NOVEMBER 2006
304 pages, est., 6 x 9”
3 figures, 24 tables
0-7748-1309-1 / 978-0-7748-1309-9
hc $85.00
The spectre of a “race to the bottom” is
increasingly prominent in debates about
globalization and also within federal systems
where the mobility of both capital and individuals
prompts fears of interjurisdictional competition
with respect to taxes and environmental and
welfare standards. While there has been no
shortage of either political rhetoric or academic
theorizing on this subject, empirical studies have
been in shorter supply. This volume seeks to
fill that gap by asking: are Canadian provinces
engaged in a race to the bottom and, if so, what
are the consequences?
The contributors apply insights from economics
and political science to several policy fields. What
emerges is a theoretical and empirical picture
of interprovincial competition that shows it to be
more complex than the popular image of a race to
the bottom and that also contradicts predictions
of an inexorable downward spiral.
This timely, practical volume will be of interest to
public policy practitioners, as well as to students
and scholars of economics and political science.
Kathryn Harrison is an associate professor
in the Department of Political Science at the
University of British Columbia, and author of
Passing the Buck: Federalism and Canadian
Environmental Policy.
2005, 320 pages, 6 x 9”
54 figures, 8 tables
0-7748-1225-7 / 978-0-7748-1225-2 hc $85.00
0-7748-1226-5 / 978-0-7748-1226-9 pb $29.95
Social capital is arguably the most critical idea
to emerge in the social sciences in the last
two decades. Emphasizing the importance
of social networks, communication, and the
symbolic and material exchanges that strengthen
communities, social capital has been the subject
of an expansive body of literature. Social Capital,
Diversity, and the Welfare State represents a
landmark consideration of the diverse meanings,
causal foundations, and positive and negative
consequences of social capital, with a particular
focus on its role in mitigating or enhancing social
inequalities.
This collaborative and interdisciplinary collection
brings together the work of economists, political
scientists, and sociologists. Their contributions
address a range of both empirical and theoretical
issues related to social capital: the centrality of
interpersonal and political trust; the bridging and
bonding functions of networks; the relationship
between social capital and inequality; the extent
of social capital’s fungibility in terms of social
advantage and disadvantage; and its implications
for both individuals and public policy.
A cutting-edge addition to the field, Social Capital,
Diversity, and the Welfare State will be essential
reading for students and scholars undertaking
research on the conceptualization, operation,
sources, and consequences of social capital in
Canadian society.
Fiona M. Kay is an associate professor in the
Department of Sociology at Queen’s University.
Richard Johnston is a professor in the
Department of Political Science at the University
of British Columbia.
“This book, written by a team of exciting researchers,
helps us understand the importance of trust, social
networks, and norms of generalized reciprocity for social
inequality, race and ethnic relations, multiculturalism,
family relations, and health. Kay and Johnston have
helped to organize and advance a key theoretical and
empirical challenge of the 21st century in the social
sciences. Students and scholars in sociology and
political science will find this book a thorough and
thought provoking examination of social capital.”
– Reza Nakhaie, author of Debates on Social Inequality:
Class, Gender, and Ethnicity in Canada
www.ubcpress.ca / 1 877 864 8477 11