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Inequality and the Fading of Redistributive Politics , Keith Banting and John Myles , eds. Vancouver : UBC Press , 2013, pp. xiii, 462.
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Keith Banting and John Myles present current perspectives on Canada's welfare-state status in this collection. The book addresses a 30-year period, approximately 1975 to 2005, though many chapters point to historical roots and lessons learned from European models. Their thesis suggests that Canada's efforts at redistributive politics are falling behind others in the OECD region and societal inequalities are growing. Banting and Myles ensure article value and relevance to the thesis by incorporating significant intra-book referencing.
The volume begins with a selection of articles concerning the politics of redistribution. These discuss such topics as federalism, globalization and its effect on the market and economy, the roles of business and labour, and diversity. As well, several authors compare Canada's federal social architecture with other federations: Jane Jensen presents a historical comparison while David Green and James Townsend present this comparison numerically and conclude that Canadian policy makers are using flawed information often inappropriate to Canadian circumstances. William Coleman considers business and labour policies since the mid-1940s and determines that co-operation is lacking between these sectors to enable...