La construction des figures de l‘«autre»: les communautésculturellesau Québec

Abstract

This paper analyses the ways in which a contemporary state—in this case, Quebec—categorizes and mobilizes its inhabitants. Official documents published by the Quebec government during the last 30 years served as the basis for study. The authors found that the state fragments its members in nebulous cultural categories. Through these categorizations, the inhabitants are simultaneously included in and excluded from the mythical realm of “nationhood.” In the beginning, knowledge of the French language sufficed as a condition for inclusion in the national in‐group. Nowadays, the cultural criteria are increasingly “naturalized”: one does not become an insider anymore. Cet article analyse le processus de categorisation et de mobilisation des acteurs sociaux par un État contemporain. Les documents publics de 1'Etat québécois des 30 dernières années constituent le corpus de cette étude. L'État fragmente les acteurs sociaux dans des categories floues en les incluant et en les excluant simultanément de l'entité mythique que represente la nation. Jadis, la langue française était utilisée comme critère d'inclusion nationale. Or, ces dernières années, la frontière entre le «nous» et les «autres» est devenue «naturelle», done infranchissable. Ainsi, on ne devient plus membre de la nation par l'apprentissage du français: on l'est ou on ne l'est pas dès la naissance. «Un anthropologue est‐il à même de donner I'indice céphalique d'un peuple chez lequel régnerait la coutume de déformer par des bandages la tête des enfants dès leurspremières années?» (Sigmund Freud) «Monprobléme avec les classements, c'est qu'ils ne durentpas; à peine aije fini de mettre de I'ordre que cet ordre est déjà caduc.» (Georges Perec)

From Ethnicity to Race in the Canadian Review of Sociology, 1964 to 2010

“…Attention to ethnic/racial boundaries/identity was less concentrated around the work of a single scholar. Instead, articles on these issues focused on a wider range of issues, such as Breton et al () who offered an overview of a conference on Canadian cultures and ethnic groups, or Makabe () who looked at Nisei Japanese–Canadians in Toronto, or Shiose () who researched the construction of “others” and Allophone communities in Quebec. If any consensus can be found in this work it would be around the questioning of the hegemony of a single “Canadian” identity and the questioning ethnic and racial boundaries.…”

Child welfare, Indigenous parents, and judicial mediation

“…Acknowledging this entwinement may be especially salient in Quebec, where official and popular discourses often reserve the adjective 'cultural' for visible or ethnic minorities, referring to them as 'cultural communities'. 73…”