"La nation" and the Quebec Sociological Tradition (1890-1980)

Abstract

Abstract: What does Quebec sociology tell us about the question of nation. Or, more specifically, how does the discussion of this question allow us to interpret Quebec social thought? This article suggests that the question of gives a certain coherence, perhaps even unity, to the history of sociological thought in Quebec. Approximately from 1890 to 1980, from Edmond de Nevers to Fernand Dumont, the national question generated substantial discussions organized around the issue of national survival. I examine five major research concerns of these discussions: history, demography, religion, language, and education. Resume: Que nous apprend la sociologie quebcoise a propos de la question nationale? Ou encore, peut-etre plus specifiquement, comment la question nationale permet-elle d'interpreter la pensee sociologique quebecoise? Cet article suggere que la question de la nation donne une coherence, sinon une certaine unite l'historie de la pensee sociologique au Quebec. De 1890 environ jusqu'aux annees 1980, d'Edmond de Nevers a Femand Dumont, la question de la nation a ete l'objet d'importantes discussions qui n'ont pas manque de s'inscrire dans ce qu'on appele le paradigme de la survivance. Cette question est ici discutee a partir de cinq grands axes de recherche: l'histoire, le nombre, la religion, la langue et l'education. The question of has occupied a central place in the history of sociological thought and that of the social sciences and humanities in Quebec since their very beginnings. This has been to such an extent that if we come to understand the issues and what constitute their essential elements, we can understand not only a multitude of social, political and economic problems which characterize the evolution of contemporary Quebec, but we can also delineate the fundamental characteristics of a corpus of sociological work which is otherwise extremely heterogeneous. This heterogeneity derives from the longstanding interest of numerous Quebec sociologists and intellectuals in the national question for over a century and a half. Some conclude that the future of Quebec remains in the Canadian federation; in contrast, others believe that this future is to be found in political independence. My purpose is not to return to this debate nor to those issues and questions which flow from it. The focus here is on wha t sociologists -- or specialists in other social sciences, in some instances -- might have in common. What is shared by those Quebec sociologists and social scientists whose have lived in different areas or different milieu as regards preoccupations and themes which might constitute an underlying unity of a Quebec sociological tradition? The approach used here is inspired by Robert Nisbet's The Sociological Tradition. In this book, as we know, he focuses on those central themes around which there is certain unity in the discipline. Here the basic themes in Quebec sociology are elucidated. Five principal themes can be identified among others: history, demography, religion, language and education. Firstly, history is a fundamental element in Quebec sociology (as it is in the sociology of French Canada more generally): it includes at once collective memory and tradition and often a vision of the future, especially among earlier intellectuals. Concern with the relative numerical strength of the French Canadian minority in North America transcends demography and has long had a strong ideological dimension, as reflected in what we will later call the revanche des berceaux or the idea of encouraging a high fertility rate for the purpose of expanding political and social power; especially among pioneers such as Edmond de Nevers and Edouard Montpeti t who gave considerable attention to ways in which demographic growth could be promoted and relative numerical erosion prevented. Religion includes the moral and sacred dimension, the clergy and the Church, and in a certain way the idea of community. …