Will Canada survive the Canadian state? (Globalization, political discourse)

There is a growing sense of unease about Canada's capacity to survive polit ically in a globalized world. Conceptual problems regarding "nation," "stat e" and "sovereignty" have plagued our understanding of the Canadian politic al community in the past, and continue to cloud thinking on Canada's place in a changing world. Political ideology has focussed on a series of dichoto mies (state v. society; centralization v. decentralization; public v. priva te) and the nation has been identified with one or other side of these dich otomies. In the 21st century, political discourse are changing, along with underlying structural conditions, but political science must transform its own analytical categories to come to terms with these changes. A new agenda for Canadian political studies might better focus not on older institution al boundaries, but on political actions taken by Canadian whether inside or outside the state, whether inside or outside Canada itself.