Globalization and the Future of Canada‪.‬

CHARLES TAYLOR is Professor of Philosophy and of Political Science at McGill University. He held the Chichele Chair at Oxford University (1976-78), returning to Canada to participate in the referendum campaign of 1979-80. Is the nation-state really near the end of its useful life? Many have predicted that this venerable institution, which has proven so adaptable in the past, is growing hopelessly obsolete as we move into a new millennium of rapid globalization. But the democratic nation-state has survived fascism, Bolshevism, and legions of despots. Perhaps we should not count it out just yet. Here Charles Taylor reflects on the troubled Canadian federation, and argues that the nation-state has provided both the ideals and the practical tools to enable us to realize our potential as citizens of this country; now the time has come for us to broaden those ideals and collectively devise the tools that will see us realize our potential as citizens of the world.