Cultural politics pathology: the Charter of Québec values†
The paper argues that the Québec Government Bill 60, popularly known in English as The Charter of Québec Values, is symptomatic of a pathological strain in Québec's cultural politics.
Contesting the Nation: Reasonable Accommodation in Rural Quebec
In 2007, the village of Herouxville attracted a significant amount of media attention after adopting a controversial code of conduct for living in this municipality. This code of conduct, commonly referred to as the Herouxville Standards, constructed the community’s collective identity in ways that were positioned against several “Others,” including women, children and (most notably) immigrants. The construction of “Us” and “Them” evident in the Standards points to ongoing contestations over the definition of nationhood in Quebec. In particular, the Standards reflect a reassertion of exclusive concepts of the nation. As such, the Standards must be read, not as an isolated case, but as part of a larger debate about national identity, immigration and multiculturalism in Quebec.
Gender Politics and Research: Male and Female Violence in Intimate Relationships
This article reviews a wide range of research reports on male and female violence in intimate relationships and highlights the political nature of domestic violence research. The authors review incidence and prevalence-based research that uses quantitative surveys and illustrate how quantitative, family-focussed researchers tend to ignore the political and social context of domestic violence and the complex issues of gender and power. The authors argue that understanding the complexities of domestic violence requires clear definitions of what constitutes domestic violence and multi-method approaches to research, using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methodologies.