Citizenship Under Pressure: Mapping Debates Over Religious Freedom in the Second Decade in Quebec

Abstract

In recent years and following a long process of secularization, social change, and immigration, Quebec is currently a diverse environment with rich dynamics around Quebecness, citizenship, identity politics, and reasonable accommodations. Following sensitive political events, Quebec saw many battles over secularism and religious pluralism. A series of debates were enmeshed with political debates about the true meaning of secularism and embroiled with fear of religion and immigrants. This ethnographic inquiry maps out the existing tendencies during different periods of repercussions and tensions around Quebec’s secularism. The article outlines key clustering patterns and ethico-religious hierarchies and their genesis while responding to the 2013 Charter of Values of Quebec, the debates on the 2014 attacks against Canadian soldiers by presumed ISIS members in Canada, and the 2019 secularism law, Bill 21, adopted by the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government in June 2019. The fieldwork was conducted between May 2013 and June 2020 and is based on 44 events and interviews with major key participants (Catholics, Muslims, Secularists) in Montreal. The main findings show that the dynamics behind the incongruities within social groups appear to be generating overlapping alliances; while discourses of many groups seem to be unified in appearance, they are divided into many layers, which serves the purpose of opposing or supporting the government’s policies and legislation. Partnerships created in such conditions remain ephemeral, restrained with an allegiance to the same political tendency, and controlled by cultural or ideological homogeneity. Furthermore, there is more hate and violence when perpetrators believe that they benefit from anonymity.