Quebec Identity: The Challenge of Pluralism

In Quebec Identity Jocelyn Maclure provides a critical reflection on the ways in which Quebec’s identity has been articulated since the 1960s’ Quiet Revolution. He shows how neither the melancholic nationalism of the Montreal school, Hubert Aquin, Pierre Vallires, Fernand Dumont and their followers, nor the individualist antinationalism of Pierre Trudeau and his followers provide identity stories and political projects adequate for contemporary Quebec. In articulating an alternative narrative Maclure reframes the debate, detaching the question of Quebec’s identity from the question of sovereignty versus federalism and linking it closely to Quebec’s cultural diversity and to the consolidation of its democratic sphere. In so doing, he rethinks the conditions of authenticity, leaves space for First Nations’ self-determination and takes account of globalization. This edition has been expanded for English-Canadians with additional references as well as a glossary of names, institutions, and concepts.