Mandin & Hope
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Many of Mandin's interviewees described their decision to move to Montreal in contrast to their experiences in Europe, describing their migration as a search for societal hope. Mandin described this social hope in two spheres: career success and identity expression.
For many Maghreb Europeans, unemployment became a source of frustration. Leila, one of Mandins interviewees expressed her distress in finding a job despite “[playing] by the rules” (Mandin 303). This illustrates the barriers minority communities face despite their efforts to follow conventional paths to success. Mandin highlights the obstacles faced by minorities, despite relevant skills, education, and experience are often a reflection of social immobility inherent to the European social structure in which minorities are not offered the same opportunities to move around social hierarchies. This is emphasized in the fact that “the descendants of immigrants also face higher unemployment rates and lower wages than the average population, even when they have the same qualifications” (Mandin 303). The lack of social mobility encouraged migration to Canada, specifically Montreal where a more pluralistic society (in theory) allowed greater opportunities because of lesser discrimination in the workforce.
Interestingly, Mandin discusses the contrast between perceived acceptance and realistic acceptance faced by the Magrib population specifically in the post-9/11 context. The pluralistic image that Canada held appealed to migrants because of their efforts to create a multicultural country. Mandin discusses Canada's multicultural policy which “[encouraged] minorities to develop their identity” (308). This understanding of cultural tolerance in Canada, especially as it contracted to that of Europe, acted as a push factor to many migrants who yearned for acceptance. However, Mandid highlights how the plurality that Canada seemed to encourage was not always socially reinforced. Especially in the post-9/11 context with “increasing public anxiety about Islam and Muslim minorities in Quebec” (Mandin 309) discrimination towards Maghrebi people challenged their social acceptance.
Overall, Mandin expresses the decision of the Maghrebi people to move from Europe to Montreal, by comparing their experiences in both, concluding that comparatively Canada offered greater hope for migrants in two spheres: career success and identity expression