Includes bibliographical references.

Reflecting upon the dynamics of exclusion and inclusion in the Americas, the contributors to this book share a basic perspective on the importance of non-dualism. Taking examples from Canada, Chile, Costa-Rica, the United States, and other American landscapes, the authors underscore that, in the context of modernity, exclusion in democratic countries implies the existence of an obligation to conform to a homogenizing process fostered by a state bureaucracy, all the while basic rights are implemented with the help of civil society. Nowadays, inclusion is linked to pluralism and to the recognition of difference of others in the context of the expansion of the knowledge-based society. For this inclusion to take place, one has to have access to decent housing, education, post-secondary education, technology, financing, and medical services as well as be able to cross geographical and symbolic limits and engage oneself in a permanent transition connected to globalized and transcultural dynammics.

CONTENTS:

Introduction / Patrick Imbert, University of Ottawa

Theories of Exclusion and Inclusion: Cultural Dynamics in Knowledge-Based Societies / Patrick Imbert, University of Ottawa

On two Invisible Peoples of the Americas or the Long and Winding Struggle Against Dualism / Fernando Andacht, University of Ottawa

Exclusion / Inclusion Dialectic in Democratic Societies /
Maria de Los Angeles Yannuzzi, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Argentina

Cohesion a través de exclusion. Miedos, medios de communication y migraciones en Costa Rica /
Carlos Sandoval Garcia, Universidad de Costa Rica

Includes some text in Spanish.