The idea of political unity – or belonging – contains its own opposite, because a political community can never guarantee the equal status of all its members. The price of belonging is an entrenched social stratification and hierarchy within the political unit itself.

Lived Fictions explores how the notion of political unity generates a collective commitment to imagining the structure of Canadian society. These political imaginaries – the citizen-state, the market economy, and so forth – are lived fictions. They orient our national identity and shape our understanding of political legitimacy, responsibility, and action. John Grant persuasively details why the project of political unity fails: it distorts our lived experiences and allows inequality and domination to take root.

Canada promises unity through democratic politics, reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, a welfare state that protects the vulnerable, and a multicultural approach to cultural relations. This book documents the historical failure of these promises and elaborates the kinds of radical institutional and intellectual changes needed to overcome our lived fictions.