The Future of the Nation-State and Quebec-Canada Relations

Abstract

Focuses on the Canadian & Quebec nations to explore both the "nation" created by the state & the "internal nations" found within states. The cases of Quebec & Catalonia, the Basque Country within Spain, are used to point out differences between Europe & North America in the context of continental integration. The rise of the Canadian nation since 1945 is examined, along with the new bi-cultural Canadian nationalism outside Quebec; & reasons for the relative failure of the notion of a Canadian nation in francophone Quebec where counter-nationalism has deep historical roots. The importance of not exaggerating the decline of the nation-state is emphasized. Although Canada illustrates the ability of a multi-cultural, multi-lingual nation to transcend usual state structures, the other notion of the nation is also holding up well in Canada where strong majorities are resolutely attached to the nation but large minorities remain connected to socially constructed internal states with a life of their own. States like Canada will most likely continue as "sites of competition between very different conceptions of nationhood.". 13 References. J. Lindroth