| Abstract: | This paper focuses on the well-orchestrated and much publicised project regarding the construction and implementation by the Quebec state of a citoyennetéquébécoise. This endeavour is viewed here as the most recent phase of a process of boundary definition that began with the Quiet Revolution in the early 1960s, and that proceeded from the cultural definition of an ethnic nation to a pluralist conception of the territory, and then from a pluralist definition of the community to the present elaboration of a specifically Québécois citizenship, which merges here with nationality. In spite of a shift from a cultural to a territorially based definition of the community, I argue that the citizenship presently developed is anchored in a homogenised notion of cultural belonging, as the Quebec state is attempting to define a 'universal' national identity that would subordinate all others. The national model of citizenship is preferred over the postnational, the republican over the pluralist, the undifferentiated over the differentiated, at least when it comes to cultural identity. Language is viewed as the bearer of a culture, but also as a common property and a threatened good that must be protected by all residents. This fosters the redefinition of a collective project that can include non-French Canadians and be less past-oriented than previously. Whether such a strategy will appear more palatable to non-French Canadians remains to be seen, in a context where the case for multicultural rights and differentiated postnational identities remains very strong on the international scene. |
