Multiple Minorities and Deceptive Dichotomies: The Theoretical and Political Implications of the Struggle for a Public French Education System in Alberta

Abstract

Abstract.In this article we re-establish the relevance of linguistic diversity by highlighting that French is a minority language spoken by a growing number of non-white and non-Christian minority groups, including Muslims. These groups are often characterized in contemporary Canada as essentially non-modern, traditional and opposed to secularism—characterizations that were used historically to depict French ethnic minorities as essentially Catholic, traditional and non-modern. Utilizing a historically grounded case study of the evolution of French language education rights in Alberta, the study reveals how “Franco-Albertans” are a linguistic minority comprised of other minorities. We also show the contradictions inherent in dichotomous representations of “secularism” when it comes to “Western” and “non-Western” societies, or “Christian” and “Muslim” groups. We argue that in expanding the discipline's focus to deal with a wider range of “groups,” analysts need to attend to how “multiple minorities” may take analytically relevant forms, and be wary of evolutionary and dichotomous constructions of diverse “others.”Résumé.Dans cet article, nous redonnons une place importante à la question linguistique comme dimension politique fondamentale au Canada, et au français comme langue minoritaire parlée par un nombre croissant de groupes minoritaires non blancs et non chrétiens, y compris les musulmans. Ces groupes, ce qui n'est pas selon nous sans intérêt, sont souvent globalement décrits aujourd'hui comme étant non modernes, traditionnels et opposés au sécularisme dans un discours qui n'est pas sans évoquer la façon dont les Canadiens français furent historiquement décrits comme une société strictement catholique et prémoderne. Dans ce cas-ci, le Canada francophone est étudié à travers le prisme de la francophonie albertaine, elle-même composée de plusieurs minorités. Nous nous concentrons en particulier sur les droits scolaires en Alberta et un lien est aussi établi entre cette situation et la description souvent dichotomique par rapport au sécularisme de la société canadienne entre les groupes «occidentaux» et «non occidentaux» ou encore entre les groupes «chrétiens» d'un côté, et de l'autre, les groupes de la diversité multiculturelle canadienne, notamment les musulmans francophones. La thèse de cet article est qu'en élargissant le champ d'investigation de la discipline de façon à inclure un éventail de groupes plus grand, les analystes doivent être vigilants quant à l'articulation complexe du concept de «minorités multiples» de façon à éviter les constructions trop évolutionnistes et dichotomiques des divers «autres».

Diversity and Democratic Politics: An Introduction

“…This leads to our third and final suggestion for differentiating experiences which emerges from the work by Abu-Laban and Couture (2010), namely to complicate our understanding of what minority means. They present a case study of how the changing demographic make-up of schools in Alberta has created conflicts over the institutional accommodation of Francophones in the Albertan education system.…”

“…In doing so, they reflect an increasing interest among scholars in the experiences of “minorities within minorities” (Eisenberg and Spinner-Halev, 2006). This is one area in which the study of the consequences of increasing diversity has been all but silent, yet as Abu-Laban and Couture (2010) document, it is, and will continue to be, an important component of understanding how democratic institutions are being used and shaped by various actors in contemporary liberal democracies.…”

The Politics of Language Roadmaps in Canada: Understanding the Conservative Government's Approach to Official Languages

“…The existing scholarship tends to focus on the genesis of language policies (Martel and Pâquet, 2012; McRoberts, 1997), the normative dimensions of language rights and protections (Kymlicka, 1998; Réaume, 2003) and conflicts between federal and Quebec language policies (Cardinal, 2010; McMillan, 1998). Others have examined the relationship between ethnocultural diversity and official languages policy (Abu-Laban and Couture, 2010; Farmer, 2008) as well has the hierarchy of languages in Canada, particularly in relation to Aboriginal languages (Haque and Patrick, 2014).…”