This evening will be hosted by the Institute of Anabaptist and Mennonite Studies and features remarks from the author, a book signing, and a panel discussion. The panel will be moderated by Marlene Epp (Interim Dean and Professor of History and Peace & Conflict Studies at Grebel) and features the author with researchers and community members who have first hand experience with Old Colony Mennonites from Mexico and Latin America.
Reception to follow.
The flow of migrants from south to north and east to west carries with it growing concerns about the economic integration, political incorporation, and social inclusion of newcomers and their children. But what happens when a group of people deliberately excludes themselves from mainstream society? How can social policies, human services, and communities best understand and respond to them?
In Out of Place, Luann Good Gingrich explores social inclusion and exclusion in relation to the approximately 60,000 Low German-speaking Mennonites who have migrated from traditionally self-sufficient and agrarian colonies in Latin America to rural areas of Canada. By examining the free-market principles that organize the human services industry the author exposes the inherent conflict that arises when this “market logic” is imposed on a group that does not embrace these ideals. The author’s innovative approach to social policy and human services which emphasizes the relationship between dominant and subordinate cultures, encourages us to find new ways to authentically engage with difference and bridge the gaps that divide us.
Luann Good Gingrich is an associate professor in the School of Social Work at York University.
Sponsored by Conrad Grebel University College, Institute of Anabaptist and Mennonite Studies, Words Worth Books, University of Toronto Press.