Wsevolod W. Isajiw

Wsevolod W. Isajiw, Ph.D. (6 November 1933 – 28 February 2023) was a Canadian sociologist and scholar specialising in social thought, sociological theory, ethnicity, immigration, and pluralism studies. Born in 1933 in Lviv, Ukraine. He was educated at LaSalle College, the Catholic University of America, from which he holds his MA and PhD degrees, and at Harvard University. He was the first appointee to the position of Chair of the Robert F. Harney Professorship and Program in Ethnic, Immigration, and Pluralism Studies (now part of the Munk School) at that time in the Department of Sociology, University of Toronto (1990–9) where he established the first interdisciplinary collaborative graduate program in ethnic studies in Canada, funded by the Secretary of State, and ran a series of highly successful annual conferences that were popular with students. After retirement, he became professor emeritus at the University of Toronto; he lectured in sociology and sociological theory from 1970 until 1999. Dr. Isajiw died at the age of 89 at his home in Toronto, Canada.

Selected published work

Dr. W. W. Isajiw's expertise, distilled in his many writings, left its mark on the fields of sociology and social thought. He contributed research and insights into ethnicity, ethnic groups, and ethnic identity. He was the author, co-author, or editor of 14 scholarly books and over 109 articles and research papers, some written in Ukrainian. He wrote two textbooks, Understanding Diversity: Ethnicity and Race in the Canadian Context (Toronto: Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc., 1999), a reference source for information about diversity, ethnic origins, and ethnic group distribution in Canada, which encouraged Canadians to think about ethnicity and race in a productive manner. His second textbook, Iconic Ideas in the History of Social Thought (Victoria: Friesen Press, 2016), distinguishes a number of types of social thought and traces their history from "tribal" times to the present day, ending with a discussion of the future of social thought. His much-reprinted articles include “Definitions of Ethnicity” and “Olga in Wonderland: Ethnicity in Technological society.”

Isajiw, a major figure in the study of social thought, theory, and ethnic studies in Canada, Isajiw published extensively.  A selection of Isajiw's influential texts:

• Identities: The impact of ethnicity on Canadian society
• Multiculturalism in North America and Europe: Comparative perspectives on interethnic relations and social incorporation (with Tanuja Perera)
• Causation and Functionalism in Sociology  from International Library of Sociology
• Definitions of Ethnicity”, 1974 article, translated into Japanese and published in Esunikku Toha Nanika? (What is Ethnic?), Machiko Aoyagi, ed. Tokyo: Shinsensha, 73–96.
• "Definitions of Ethnicity: New approaches" in Ethnic Forum
• “Olga in Wonderland: Ethnicity in technological society,” from Canadian Ethnic Studies
• Iconic Ideas in the History of Social Thought, his second textbook.
• Between Hitler and Stalin Ukraine in World War II: The Untold Story (with Andrew Gregorovich, Oleh S. Romanyschyn)
• “Socialization as a factor in ethnic identity retention” (with Tomoko Makabe)
• “Ethnic Identity Retention” Center for Urban and Community Studies. Isajiw's well-known 1990 study with three co-authors, “Ethnic Identity Retention,” studied the results from a survey of 2,000 people from three generations of four major ethnic groups in Metropolitan Toronto (Italians, Ukrainians, Germans, and Jews). It focused on indicators of identity and ethnic identity retention, transmission or assimilation across three generations.

  To date, this study has been successfully replicated and verified with other ethnic groups in three countries globally. As per T. Lane's Victims of Stalin and Hitler: The exodus of Poles and Balts to Britain: “Isajiw proposed a series of indicators of ethnic identity which he divided into external (observable behaviour patterns) and internal (attitudes and feelings interpreted indirectly). He found in his study of four ethnic groups (Italians, Germans, Ukrainians and Jews) that from generation to generation the percentage of ethnic indicators fell off significantly. Averaging out all the indicators for the four groups he discovered that the first generation scored 60 per cent, the second about 45 per cent, and the third about 31 per cent. Interestingly, the highest indicator across the four groups was ethnic food, with the next highest items being the possession of ethnic articles, the maintenance of ethnic customs, the retention of ethnic close friends and the participation in functions organised by ethnic organisations. Low on the list was knowledge of the ethnic language and use of ethnic recreational facilities. From this evidence, it seems incontrovertible that ethnic identity can change its meaning over time.”

• The Refugee Experience: Ukrainian Displaced Persons after World War I, with Yury Boshyk and Roman Senkus, eds.

  In reviewing the book The Refugee Experience, scholar Marta Dyczok states that it is “the first comprehensive compilation of information on Ukrainian postwar refugees. The collection is important for the study of international protection of involuntarily displaced people and of twentieth-century Ukrainian history.” Organised in 12 sections, the collection “makes a large quantity of information easily accessible to the reader.” She summarizes that: “This book will be of interest to a wide audience. Those with a scholarly interest in refugee studies will find a detailed case study of one group of refugees during their period of displacement. Most of the contributions on the life of the refugees in internment camps use archival materials, maps, charts, and statistical tables never before assembled in one volume. Contemporary historians and scholars dealing with issues of national identity will find an engaging description of the events and processes that shaped the lives of a group of people caught in an unusual situation, where their national identity played an important role in determining their future. Former refugees who lived through this experience will find it interesting to read about their past examined in an academic manner. Ukrainians in Ukraine will find this book useful in helping to understand a part of their history to which they had no access until recently.”

Textbook: Understanding Diversity: Ethnicity and race in the Canadian context

Isajiw's book, Understanding Diversity: Ethnicity and Race in the Canadian Context (1999), is known for providing “a clear introduction to the study of ethnicity in Canada by an author who possesses an admirable knowledge of the field” and was a highly used text for higher education multicultural studies. Praised for the concise and “comprehensive review of Canada's immigration policy and his use of the most recent census data,” conceptualises and analyses diversity using Canada as a case study for empirical reference.

Honours

Wsevolod W. Isajiw was invested by Pope Benedict XVI with the Knighthood of St. Gregory the Great for policy-making work on Catholic education. On June 20, 2006, Pope Benedict XVI acknowledged Wsevolod W. Isajiw with a bestowal of papal honors at the Cathedral Church of Saint Michael in Toronto, naming him a Knight in the Order of Saint Gregory the Great, for his “significant contribution to Catholic education, especially in connection with proposed changes to ‘The Education Act,’ which would have prevented Catholic School Boards from considering an individual's faith when making employment decisions.”