Génération souverainiste? L'engagement des jeunes au sein du mouvement souverainiste québécois : le cas du Parti québécois
Since the defeat of the Yes campaign in the 1995 referendum, the Quebec sovereignty movement has been in decline. We can demonstrate this by analyzing the electoral results of the different sovereignist parties as well as the social and ideological division of the sovereignty movement over the past 20 years. This thesis seeks to analyse the involvement of Parti québécois (PQ) members between the ages of 20 and 26. These members began their involvement while the movement was already in decline and therefore have not lived through the most significant events of the Quebec sovereignty movement. With 16 semi-structured interviews, this study seeks to understand the political commitment processes of these individuals. Through a sociological analysis of their experiences of involvement in politics, we demonstrate that different types of processes can lead a person to join the PQ. We then argue that elements from the past, such as history classes and family socialization, have greater influence on a person’s awareness of the sovereignty issue than do current events. We proceed to establish that these individuals belong to a political generation for which the major events of the sovereignty movement cannot be considered as critical junctures in their political involvement. Finally, we demonstrate that the analysis of the individuals’ political orientations can help us better understand the differences between the different political commitment processes.
Parti québécois Political commitment Quebec sovereignty movement Parti québécois Social movements Quebec politics