Editorial Board / Comité de rédaction. Advisory Board / Comité consultatif

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2 Editorial Board / Comité de rédaction Editor-in-Chief Rédacteur en chef Kenneth McRoberts, York University, Canada Associate Editors Rédacteurs adjoints Isabel Carrera Suarez, Universidad de Oviedo, Spain Daniel Salée, Concordia University, Canada Robert S. Schwartzwald, University of Massachusetts, U.S.A. Managing Editor Secrétaire de rédaction Guy Leclair, ICCS/CIEC, Ottawa, Canada Advisory Board / Comité consultatif Irene J.J. Burgers, University of Groningen, The Netherlands Patrick Coleman, University of California/Los Angeles, U.S.A. Enric Fossas, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, España Lois Foster, La Trobe University, Australia Fabrizio Ghilardi, Università di Pisa, Italia Teresa Gutiérrez-Haces, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico Eugenia Issraelian, Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia James Jackson, Trinity College, Republic of Ireland Jean-Michel Lacroix, Université de Paris III/Sorbonne Nouvelle, France Denise Gurgel Lavallée, Universidade do Estado da Bahia, Brésil Eugene Lee, Sookmyung University, Korea Erling Lindström, Uppsala University, Sweden Ursula Mathis, Universität Innsbruck, Autriche Amarjit S. Narang, Indira Gandhi National Open University, India Heather Norris Nicholson, University College of Ripon and York St. John, United Kingdom Satoru Osanai, Chuo University, Japan Vilma Petrash, Universidad Central de Venezuela-Caracas, Venezuela Danielle Schaub, University of Haifa, Israel Sherry Simon, Concordia University, Canada Wang Tongfu, Shanghai International Studies University, China

3 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d études canadiennes 16, Fall / Automne 1997 Nationalism and Globalization Le nationalisme et la mondialisation Table of Contents / Table des matières Daniel Salée Introduction / Présentation...5 Jan Penrose Construction, De(con)struction and Reconstruction. The Impact of Globalization and Fragmentation on the Canadian Nation-State...15 Alain-G. Gagnon et François Rocher Nationalisme libéral et construction multinationale : la représentation de la «nation» dans la dynamique Québec-Canada Earl H. Fry Regional Economic Development Strategies in Canada and the United States: Linkages Between the Subnational, National and Global Settings...69 André Joyal et Laurent Deshaies Des PME québécoises en région face à la mondialisation...93 Jeffrey M. Ayres From National to Popular Sovereignty? The Evolving Globalization of Protest Activity in Canada Donna R. McLean A Rhetorical Analysis of the Canadian Free Trade Debate: Establishing a Framework to Interpret Free Trade through Historical Premise, Orientation Metaphors and Dissociation Katarzyna Rukszto National Encounters: Narrating Canada and the Plurality of Difference. 149 Open Topic Articles / Articles hors-thèmes Colleen Ross The Art of Transformation in Lola Lemire Tostevin s Frog Moon Antonia Maioni The Canadian Welfare State at Century s End...173

4 Richard Vengroff and Zaira Reveron Decentralization and Local Government Efficiency in Canadian Provinces: A Comparative Perspective Joseph B. Glass The Settlement of Prairie Jews in Palestine, Review Essays / Essais critiques Diana Brydon Sliding Metaphors: Rethinking the Nation in Global Contexts Peter Klaus Genèse d une littérature latino-américaine au Canada et au Québec? Anne Whitelaw Nationalism and Globalization: Exhibitions and the Circulation of Objects...261

5 Présentation Mondialisation. À en croire certains, le phénomène est irréversible et incontournable. Mieux, il serait porteur de défis économiques vivifiants et d un engagement salutaire dans la promotion de l universel, dans l aplanissement de ces frontières géographiques, symboliques, culturelles et politiques qui séparent les communautés humaines et limitent les capacités d accomplissement de l humanité. Pourtant, en même temps qu elle semble accélérer le pas et imprégner de sa logique les sociétés modernes, la mondialisation se bute à la reviviscence de mouvements nationalitaires dont on ne soupçonnait plus l existence et se heurte à des particularismes étonnants qui déstabilisent l intégrité des États. En fait, paradoxe étrange, et contre toute attente, une certaine tendance à la célébration de l identité subjective et l émergence politique de diverses formes d identifications personnelles et collectives minoritaires semblent s imposer comme les pendants obligés de la mondialisation. Ce paradoxe, le Canada en fait régulièrement les frais. Alors que l État canadien cherche à répondre aux exigences de la mondialisation en tentant de promouvoir l intégration économique du pays et en veillant à la cohésion du lien social, diverses forces se conjuguent pour remettre en question les appels à l unité et bousculer les prémisses convenues de l identité canadienne. Elles adoptent des positions politiques souvent sans appel qui, à terme, peuvent conduire à l éclatement de la communauté Introduction Globalization: According to some people, the phenomenon is irreversible and ineluctable. Better yet, it could usher in exciting economic challenges and force a healthy commitment to promote universalism by smoothing away the geographic, symbolic, cultural and political borders that separate human communities and limit the ability of humankind to reach its potential. Globalization, although evidently setting the pace and instilling modern societies with its ideology, has run up against a recrudescence of nationalist movements whose existence has nearly been forgotten. It has run headlong into some surprising forms of parochialism that are destabilizing the integrity of the State. In fact, paradoxically, and contrary to all expectation, a marked trend to celebrating subjective identity, as well as the political emergence of different forms of personal and collective minority identities, seems to be the necessary counterweight to globalization. Canada already knows something of this paradox. While the Canadian State is looking for a way to meet the dictates of globalization by attempting to promote the economic integration of the country and ensure the cohesion of its social fabric, a variety of forces are combining to challenge the call to unity and to undermine the accepted premises of the Canadian identity. Such forces adopt often intractable political positions which may in the long run lead to the breakup of the Canadian polity or, International Journal of Canadian Studies / Revue internationale d études canadiennes 16, Fall/Automne 1997

6 IJCS / RIÉC politique canadienne, ou, à tout le moins, à des replis intracommunautaires qui menaceraient nécessairement toute entreprise d unification nationale. On pense d emblée au projet souverainiste québécois, mais les revendications particulières des Premières nations, les réclamations politico-administratives des régions et la diversité ethnoculturelle constitutive de la société canadienne présentent aussi, chacune à leur manière, un potentiel de disjonction considérable. La question qui se pose est simple et s inscrit en filigrane des textes qui composent la partie thématique du présent numéro de la RIÉC : comment le Canada peut-il et comment doit-il composer avec les défis de la mondialisation? Ces défis sont, à première vue, économiques et renvoient à la restructuration des marchés nationaux, mais ils soulèvent surtout, de manière peutêtre plus profonde et plus «interpellante», le problème de l unité sociale et politique du pays. Dans le premier texte, Jan Penrose en fait une démonstration éloquente en analysant le procès graduel de fragmentation de l État canadien. Loin de déplorer la remise en question des assises historiques et des conceptions hégémoniques de l identité nationale canadienne, elle insiste plutôt sur le côté bénéfique des développements contrehégémoniques paradoxalement induits par la mondialisation. L affaiblissement de l État-nation comme base principale d identification personnelle et collective permet l ouverture de nouveaux espaces propres à la création et/ou à l expression d identités autres que celle permise at the very least, to the retreat of communities into themselves that would of necessity threaten any national unity endeavour. Coming first to mind is the Québec sovereignty agenda, but the special claims of the First Nations, the political and administrative claims of the regions and the ethnocultural diversity of Canadian society as a whole pose, each in its own way, a considerable disruptive threat. This raises the question that forms the subtext to the articles making up the thematic section of the current issue of IJCS: How can and how must Canada come to terms with the challenges of globalization? At first glance, these challenges would seem to be economic in nature and relate to the restructuring of national markets, but they raise above all, and in perhaps a more profound and interpellating way, the problem of the social and political unity of this country. In the first article, Jan Penrose eloquently analyzes the gradual process of fragmentation of the Canadian State. Far from bemoaning the reevaluation of the historical foundations and the hegemonic views of the Canadian national identity, she emphasizes the benefits of counter-hegemonic developments to which globalization has paradoxically given rise. The weakening of the role played by the nation-state as the bedrock of personal and collective identity opens up spaces conducive to the creation and/or expression of identities other than the one permitted by the Canadian State. According to Penrose, such a development could defuse the process of global integration, which 6

7 Nationalism and Globalization Le nationalisme et la mondialisation par l État canadien. Pareil développement, croit Penrose, pourrait désamorcer le processus d intégration mondiale qui tend généralement à consolider les rapports de force dominants au niveau national et pourrait donc, du coup, susciter la mise en place de rapports sociaux plus équitables. La fragmentation de l identité nationale canadienne n a, pour Penrose, rien de dramatique. Elle pourrait au contraire déboucher sur la mise en place d une logique sociale pluraliste et flexible qui dépasserait les limites du nationalisme et ferait obstacle aux conséquences négatives de la mondialisation. Alain G. Gagnon et François Rocher font implicitement écho à la perspective générale développée par Penrose. À partir d une exploration des écrits pertinents autour du nationalisme québécois et de la dynamique politique qui oppose le Québec et le Canada, les deux auteurs soutiennent que la résolution du contentieux constitutionnel doit passer par la transformation de l État canadien en un État multinational. La tendance historique de l État canadien à oblitérer la diversité profonde de l espace socio-politique constitue à leurs yeux un déni de l esprit fédéral et une menace pour l avenir de la démocratie canadienne. Reprenant des thèmes chers aux philosophes politiques canadiens les plus en vue les Taylor, Tully, Kymlicka Gagnon et Rocher aspirent au développement d une citoyenneté multiforme, conforme à la pluralité identitaire de la société canadienne et ouverte à la coexistence au sein de la communauté politique de sentiments d appartenance divers. En l absence d une volonté de reformuler le cadre tends in general to consolidate dominant power relationships at the national level, while at the same time bring about the establishment of more equitable social relationships. Penrose sees nothing dramatic in the fragmentation of the Canadian national identity; for, in her view, such a development could contribute to the formation of a pluralistic and flexible social pattern transcending nationalism and stand in the way of the negative consequences of globalization. Alain G. Gagnon and François Rocher implicitly take up the thesis developed by Penrose. Based on their exploration of the relevant literature on Québec nationalism and the political dynamic that pits Québec against Canada, they argue that the constitutional question must be resolved by transforming the Canadian State into a multinational State. From their point of view, the historical tendency of the Canadian state to blot out the deep-seated diversity of the Canadian polity constitutes a rejection of the federal spirit and a threat to the future of Canadian democracy. Revisiting themes close to the hearts of the most prominent Canadian political philosophers Taylor, Tully, Kymlicka Gagnon and Rocher aspire to the development of a multiform citizenship that would correspond to the pluralistic identity of Canadian society, one which would be open to the idea of coexistence, within the political community, of various feelings of belonging. In the absence of a will to recast the political-constitutional framework of the Canadian State in accordance with less restrictive 7

8 IJCS / RIÉC politico-constitutionnel de l État canadien selon des paramètres d appartenance moins contraignants, le Canada, estiment-ils, est condamné à ne pas trouver de solution à l impasse politique actuelle. Opérant dans un tout autre registre analytique, celui de l économie politique internationale, l article d Earl H. Fry illustre combien le poids des dynamiques locales force une certaine reconfiguration de la politique nationale. À partir d une analyse comparative des stratégies de développement économique régional au Canada et aux États-Unis, l auteur montre que le procès de mondialisation amène les administrations sous-nationales (les provinces au Canada et les états aux États-Unis) à s impliquer beaucoup plus directement dans la formulation et la gestion des politiques économiques et commerciales nationales. Au Canada, il est devenu presqu impensable d articuler quelque stratégie économique nationale sans l accord préalable et la collaboration des provinces. Fry note que cela ne va pas sans compliquer la mise en place des politiques globales et implique, à terme, un repositionnement du rôle de l État central. L article d André Joyal et Laurent Deshaies s inscrit en quelque sorte dans le prolongement de l étude précédente. Les deux auteurs illustrent de manière spécifique l impact de la mondialisation au niveau local. Leur analyse des PME québécoises atteste l existence d une volonté certaine au sein des communautés économiques locales de profiter des marchés d exportation ouvert par les récents accords commerciaux de libre-échange. Ils estiment cependant que trop peu parameters of belonging, Canada, they feel, is condemned to never finding a solution to its current political impasse. Operating within a completely different analytical framework, that of international political economy, Earl H. Fry in his article demonstrates how the weight of local dynamics compels a certain reconfiguration of national politics. Basing his argument on a comparative analysis of regional economic development strategies in Canada and the United States, the author demonstrates that the globalization process leads the subnational administrations (the Canadian provinces and the American states) to become more directly involved in the development and management of national economic and trade policies. In Canada, it has become nearly unthinkable to enunciate any national economic strategy without the prior agreement and cooperation of the provinces. Fry notes that this new arrangement serves to complicate somewhat the implementation of global policies and implies, in the long run, the repositioning of the role of the central State. The article by André Joyal and Laurent Deshaies can be read as an extension to the foregoing study. The two authors demonstrate, in a specific way, the impact of globalization at the local level. Their analysis of Québec SMBs reflects the existence of a definite will, within local economic communities, to take advantage of export markets that have been opened up under recentlyconcluded free trade agreements. They believe, however, that all too 8

9 Nationalism and Globalization Le nationalisme et la mondialisation d entreprises profitent pleinement des possibilités qui s offrent à elles et qu une meilleure identification des facteurs de réussite pourrait améliorer la situation. Dans l article suivant, Jeffrey M. Ayres se penche sur le sort des mouvements canadiens de contestation et de résistance politique dans le cadre de la mondialisation. Celle-ci, note l auteur, semble avoir eu un impact significatif sur l orientation des mobilisations populaires au Canada. Explorant les mouvements de contestation contre les récents accords de libre-échange dans lesquel le Canada s est engagé (ALE et ALENA), il remarque que l action des militants canadiens transcende désormais les frontières du pays et tend plutôt vers la mise en place de coalitions transnationales. Ce phénomène, conclut Ayres, met en relief les limites du pouvoir de mobilisation de l État canadien et soulève même certaines interrogations quant à la centralité de la souveraineté nationale comme concept unificateur. Cela ne veut pas nécessairement dire qu il faille s attendre à voir bientôt émerger des mouvements sociaux nordaméricains et transnationaux dûment constitués, mais il y a là une tendance nouvelle au niveau des stratégies canadiennes d action collective qui pourraient décentrer la nation et l État qui l incarne. Les deux derniers textes de la section thématique recourent à l analyse discursive et à la critique culturelle pour saisir la tension qui existe entre mondialisation et nation au Canada. Donna McLean passe en revue le discours des partisans et des opposants au libre-échange pour réaliser que les uns comme les autres font abondamment usage de référents few businesses take full advantage of the market opportunities offered them and that a better identification of the factors contributing to successful businesses might help improve the situation. In the next article, Jeffrey M. Ayres investigates the fate of movements of protest and political resistance in the context of globalization in Canada. The author feels that globalization has had a significant impact on the directions taken by grassroots movements in Canada. While investigating the protest movements against the recent free trade agreements signed by Canada (FTA and NAFTA), he notes that the actions of Canadian militants have now gone beyond Canada s borders; he observes a trend towards the formation of transnational coalitions. This phenomenon, concludes Ayres, underscores the limits of the mobilizing capacity of the Canadian State and raises a number of questions regarding the centrality of national sovereignty as a unifying concept. This does not necessarily imply that one must expect the imminent emergence of duly-recognized North American and transnational social movements, but he sees a trend towards collective Canadian action strategies aimed at decentralizing the nation and the State that embodies it. The last two articles in the thematic section use discursive analysis and cultural criticism in order to gain an appreciation of the tension that exists between globalization and nation in Canada. Donna McLean reviews the arguments of both the defenders and the opponents of free trade and concludes that both 9

10 IJCS / RIÉC historiques pour formuler leur argument respectif. La chose n est pas sans poser problème, car d un côté comme de l autre on a librement interprété l histoire de la nation et de l État canadiens pour justifier des positions contraires. Pareil appel utilitaire à l histoire dénature la réalité et, selon McLean, soulève des problèmes d ordre éthique qui compliquent la formulation de politiques. Katarzyna Rukszto, pour sa part, se penche sur l institutionnalisation de la «journée du drapeau» (le 15 février), comme moyen de dire et de faire la nation. Rukszto note l usage étriqué et fictif qui, dans ce cas aussi, est fait de l histoire pour légitimer la vision homogénéisante dominante de l identité canadienne. La section hors-thème du présent numéro comprend quatre articles. Dans le premier, Colleen Ross explore la problématique «translationnelle» au cœur de Frog Moon, un roman méconnu de Lola Lemire Tostevin. Ross soutient que l oscillation de Laura, la protagoniste du roman, entre deux cadres temporels et deux langues évoque plus que la dualité de sa personalité, mais bien la capacité des êtres à s adapter à de nouveaux contextes et à de nouveaux environnements afin de maintenir la continuité et l intégrité de leur espace intérieur. Frog Moon s offre comme une métaphore exprimant la riche différence du vécu féminin par rapport à l unicité mâle et patriarcale de la société. Antonia Maioni présente ensuite une analyse des transformations récentes de l État-providence canadien en cette fin de siècle. Elle soutient principalement que les réformes actuelles des fonctions groups make ample use of historical precedents to buttress their respective positions. The issue does not admit of a simple solution, since both sides have liberally interpreted the history of the nation and of the Canadian State in order to justify their diametrically-opposed positions. According to McLean, this kind of utilitarian use of history misrepresents reality and raises issues of an ethical nature that complicate policy development. Katarzyna Rukszto examines the institutionalization of our Flag Day (February 15) as a means of nation-naming and nation-making. Rukszto points to the narrow and fictional usage of the flag, which, in this case as well, makes use of history for the purpose of legitimating the dominant homogenizing vision of Canadian identity. The non-thematic section of the current issue contains four articles. In the first, Colleen Ross explores the translational issues at the heart of Frog Moon, a lesser known novel by Lola Lemire Tostevin. Ross contends that the fact that Laura, the novel s protagonist, seems to shift between two time frames and two languages brings forth much more than just the duality of her own personality, but rather the capacity of beings to adapt to new contexts and new environments in an effort to maintain the continuity and the integrity of their internal space. Frog Moon can be appreciated as a metaphor that expresses the wide gulf that exists between the feminine experience and the male and patriarchal unicity of society. 10

11 Nationalism and Globalization Le nationalisme et la mondialisation providentialistes de l État canadien participent à la fois d une reconfiguration du rapport entre l État et la société au Canada et d un repositionnement politique des principaux acteurs engagés dans la formulation des politiques sociales. L éclectisme idéologique et la structure fédérale de l État canadien qui ont originellement donné le ton aux politiques sociales du Canada font désormais place à un changement de priorités qui accentue la réglementation gouvernementale plutôt que la protection sociale, la mise en place de programmes cibles plutôt que l universalité de l assurance sociale et la responsabilité individuelle plutôt que collective. Ce changement de priorités traduit en fait le rôle nouveau qu entend désormais jouer l État canadien dans la gestion de la sphère socio-sanitaire. Richard Vengroff et Zaira Reveron donnent un relief institutionnel à la réalité que décrit Maioni. Ceux-ci considèrent les pratiques de décentralisation administrative en vigueur au Canada et évaluent leur efficience dans la production et l opérationalisation des différents services publics, à la lumière des exigences nouvelles imposées par l esprit néo-libéral ambiant. Ils proposent certains étalons de base qui permettent de comparer le degré et le succès des mesures de décentralisation administrative d une province à l autre. Enfin, dans le dernier des articles hors-thème, Joseph B. Glass relate l immigration en Palestine, entre 1917 et 1939, d une centaine de Juifs canadiens des provinces de l Ouest. Il se penche sur les raisons de ce mouvement migratoire particulier et analyse les plans d établissement mis Next, Antonia Maioni presents an analysis of the transformation taking place within the Canadian Welfare State as our century draws to a close. Her central argument is that current reforms within the Canadian Welfare State are a function of the reconfiguration of the relationship between State and society in Canada and of a political repositioning of the major players involved in defining social policy. The ideological eclecticism and the federal structure of the Canadian State, which originally shaped social policies in Canada, are now giving way to a change in priorities that emphasizes government regulation rather than social protection, the implementation of targetted programs rather than universal social programs and individual as opposed to collective responsibility. This change in priorities does in fact reflect a new role that the Canadian State now intends to play in the management of our health and social systems. Richard Vengroff and Zaira Reveron provide an institutional perspective on the situation described by Maioni. They review the processes of administrative decentralisation taking place in Canada today and measure their effect on the production and the operations in various public services, in the light of the new requirements imposed by prevailing neo-liberal thought. They propose certain benchmarks that make it possible to compare the degree and the success of administrative decentralisation initiatives in the various provinces. Finally, in the last of the nonthematic articles, Joseph B. Glass recounts the story of the emigration 11

12 IJCS / RIÉC en œuvre pour la relocalisation en Palestine de ces nouveaux colons juifs. Ce cas mérite que l on s y arrête parce qu il diffère sensiblement des mouvements migratoires traditionnels des populations juives nord-américaines. Ceux-ci se font généralement de ville à ville, alors que les Juifs des provinces de l Ouest ont opéré une migration de campagne à campagne. La transition n a pas toutefois été plus facile. Les Juifs canadiens ont trouvé en Palestine des conditions climatiques, agricoles, technologiques, organisationnelles et culturelles fort différentes de celles auxquelles ils étaient habitués au Canada. Trois essais critiques bouclent ce numéro en reprenant le thème de la tension entre la mondialisation et l identité nationale. Diana Bryden fait le tour de huit ouvrages récents de critique littéraire qui portent de façon générale sur le problème de l altérité dans le contexte national canadien. Peter Klaus, pour sa part, fait le point sur la littérature canadienne et québécoise d origine latino-américaine, une littérature profondément marquée par l expérience de l exil et du déracinement. Finalement, Anne Whitelaw décrit et analyse deux expositions récentes qui portent l une, sur le souvenir d Expo 67 et l autre, sur des objets du passé associés à des moments importants de l histoire du Canada. Pour Whitelaw, ces deux expositions sont emblématiques de notre rapport parfois inconfortable au global. Elles offrent au visiteur un ancrage tangible dans l histoire et le passé qui lui permet de mieux saisir et de mieux gérer sa propre position to Palestine, from 1917 to 1939, of some one hundred Canadian Jews from the Western Provinces. He explores the reasons behind this peculiar migration and examines the settlement plans implemented for the relocation to Palestine of these new Jewish colonists. This case merits special attention, because it differs markedly from traditional migratory movements of the North American Jewish communities. While such movements have generally taken place from city to city, the Jews from the Western Provinces migrated from one rural setting to another. The transition, it must be said, was none the easier for that. The Canadian Jews in Palestine discovered climatic, agricultural, technological, organizational and cultural conditions that were very different from those to which they had become accustomed in Canada. Three review essays round out the current issue by addressing the theme of tension between globalization and national identity. Diana Bryden reviews eight recent essays of literary criticism which, in general, bear on the issue of otherness in the national Canadian context. Peter Klaus discusses Canadian and Québec literature of Latin-American origin, a genre heavily marked by the experience of exile and uprootedness. Finally, Anne Whitelaw describes and examines two recent exhibitions, one in commemoration of Expo 67 and the other on historical artifacts associated with important events in Canadian history. For Whitelaw, both exhibitions are emblematic of our sometimes uncomfortable position in relation to the global arena. They provide 12

13 Nationalism and Globalization Le nationalisme et la mondialisation actuelle alors qu il est projeté par la force des choses dans le global. Voilà donc un numéro aux perspectives variées, qui devrait permettre de mieux saisir les enjeux complexes de la mondialisation et de la production identitaire. Daniel Salée Rédacteur adjoint visitors with tangible links to our history and the past that enable them to better understand and control their own current situation when the power of circumstances forces them to grapple with global issues. We thus have an issue of IJCS which explores a number of different perspectives, and which should help the reader better grasp the complex issues of globalization and the production of a national identity. Daniel Salée Associate Editor 13

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15 Jan Penrose Construction, De(con)struction and Reconstruction. The Impact of Globalization and Fragmentation on the Canadian Nation-State Abstract This paper is concerned with the impact that processes of globalization have had on the sovereignty and cohesiveness of nation-states in general, and on the Canadian nation-state in particular. In identifying and evaluating these impacts, the paper argues that processes of globalization are not intrinsically new. Instead, it is suggested that recent concerns about globalization are directly related to its increasingly visible impact on the preeminence and stability of nation-states as the fundamental unit of contemporary geopolitical organization. The paper also argues that an important part of the cumulative impact of globalization is the encouragement of parallel processes of fragmentation which destabilize nation-states from within. As processes of globalization weaken state structures from above, or outside the state, spaces are created within the state in which resistance to hegemonic power bases can generate internal fragmentation. While most of these internal challenges do not threaten the state per se, they do undermine the predominance of a single national identity and encourage the formation and/or active expression of multiple and flexible identities. By displacing a singular national identity, these alternative identities disrupt the links which nationalist ideology has established between the existence of a nation and the legitimacy of a related state. To make these arguments, the paper begins with a discussion of Hayes (1945) seminal work on the ways in which nationalism encouraged political entities (states) to go about building a conterminous cultural entity (nation). After demonstrating how each of these mechanisms for creating a nation-state was applied in the formative stages of Canadian nation-building, the paper examines the ways in which recent processes of globalization have weakened many of these cornerstones of Canada. This gradual undermining of the nation-state is then related to the development of processes of fragmentation which generate internal challenges to hegemonic views of what Canada is, or ought to be. A concluding section argues that the resultant instability may mark the emergence of a more fragmented Canadian identity, but that a move toward multiplicity and flexibility may enable Canada to overcome some of the limitations imposed by nationalism and, consequently, to counter effectively some of the negative impacts of globalization. Résumé Cet article porte sur l incidence des processus de mondialisation sur la souveraineté et la cohésion des États-nations en général et l État-nation International Journal of Canadian Studies / Revue internationale d études canadiennes 16, Fall/Automne 1997

16 IJCS / RIÉC canadien en particulier. En caractérisant et en évaluant ces incidences, l auteure du texte soutient que les processus de mondialisation ne sont pas intrinsèquement nouveaux. Elle suggère plutôt que les préoccupations récentes suscitées par la mondialisation sont directement liées à son incidence de plus en plus manifeste sur la prédominance et la stabilité des États-nations considérés comme les unités fondamentales de l organisation géopolitique actuelle. L auteure soutient également qu une part importante de l incidence cumulative de la mondialisation est due aux processus parallèles de fragmentation, qui ont pour effet de déstabiliser les Étatsnations de l intérieur. Au fur et à mesure que les processus de mondialisation affaiblissent les structures de l État, à partir d instances supérieures ou extérieures à ce dernier, des espaces internes sont créés, à l intérieur desquels la résistance aux fondements du pouvoir hégémonique peut résulter en une fragmentation interne. Même si la plupart de ces défis internes ne menacent pas l État en tant que tel, ils minent la prédominance d une identité nationale unique et favorisent la formation et/ou l expression active d identités multiples et flexibles. En déplaçant une identité nationale unique, ces identités de substitution brisent les liens tissés par l idéologie nationaliste entre l existence d une nation et la légitimité de l État qui lui est associé. Pour soutenir ces thèses, l auteur commence par discuter de l ouvrage précurseur de Hayes (1945) sur les façons dont le nationalisme amène les entités politiques (les États) à constituer une entité culturelle contiguë (la nation). Après avoir montré comment on a appliqué chacun de ces mécanismes de création de l État-nation aux stades de formation et de la construction de la nation canadienne, l auteur se penche sur les façons dont les processus de mondialisation récents ont contribué à miner plusieurs de ces pierres angulaires du Canada. Il établit ensuite un lien entre l affaiblissement progressif de l État-nation et le développement des processus de fragmentation qui posent des défis internes aux points de vue hégémoniques sur qu est ou devrait être le Canada. Dans sa conclusion, l auteur soutient que, même si l instabilité qui en résulte pourrait signaler l émergence d une identité canadienne plus fragmentée, il est également possible qu une tendance à la multiplicité et à la flexibilité permette au Canada de surmonter certaines des limitations que lui impose le nationalisme et, en conséquence, de contrecarrer efficacement certaines des incidences négatives de la mondialisation. Only since the mid-1980s has the concept of globalization achieved popular currency but from then on, evidence of its presence can be found almost anywhere people choose to look (Robertson 1992: 8; Waters 1995: 2). Politicians find their scope of action influenced by the decisions of multinational organizations; business people must respond to the effects of global markets on local developments and plans; and individuals find themselves using or consuming products which are no longer produced locally and that often reflect the labour of people living in one or more countries far removed from their final destination. However, despite these growing signs of the importance of global networks and processes, there are good reasons for suggesting that the phenomenon of globalization is much less new than is frequently assumed. Even a brief and cursory pause for reflection reveals that interaction and cultural diffusion and not isolationism have been the most 16

17 The Impact of Globalization and Fragmentation on the Canadian Nation-State prominent features of human history (cf. Barth 1969: 9; Mann 1996: ). As Hayes (1945: 2) has written: Inventions or discoveries by particular tribes in particular regions, such as the use of bronze or iron or the employment of the camel or the horse or the manufacture of paper or the elaboration of the alphabet, soon spread and provided common cultural patterns for numerous tribes over wide areas. Just as the spread of inventions and discoveries increased some commonalties of human experience, other factors such as military conquest, commercial interaction and the expansion of religious power led to the coalescence of diverse groups of people into extensive empires and introduced loyalties that extended beyond those of kin and tribe. Indeed, for much of human history, people have aspired to forms of political organization that drew large swaths of humanity together in common bonds of law and allegiance (however inequitably) (Hayes 1945: 3). Despite occasional disruptions and geographical variations, the general historical record of human existence on earth reveals a steady trend toward increased global integration. If this is the case, how are we to explain the recent upsurge of interest and concern about the intensification of processes of globalization? As this paper will argue, at least part of the answer to this question lies in the impact which such processes have had on the fundamental units of prevailing global geopolitical organization and the accepted repositories of sovereign power: namely, nation-states. In other words, processes of globalization are seen as potentially menacing because they are viewed through a lens which ignores the relative newness of nation-states and assumes instead that such entities are natural units of human and geopolitical organization. Although contemporary signs of globalization are magnified by cumulative impacts and new technologies, this does not at a fundamental level distinguish them from previous mechanisms of global integration. As this suggests, it is not the novelty of globalization that explains current concerns, but rather the potential for such processes to undermine nation-states and to thereby seriously disrupt the prevailing world order. In order to develop this argument further, the following section demonstrates the relative newness of nation-states by placing their rise in historical context and by exploring how the ideology of nationalism encouraged political entities (states) to go about building conterminous cultural entities (nations). Drawing on seminal work by Carlton Hayes (1945), this paper illustrates how a range of mechanisms for creating a nation-state was applied in the formative stages of the Canadian nation-state. This is followed by a parallel examination of the ways in which the cumulative impacts of ongoing global integration have been exacerbated by recent processes of globalization to weaken many of the cornerstones of Canada. Both discussions are important because they provide empirical substantiation for some of the general theoretical claims being made about globalization. This evidence of the gradual undermining of the nationstate is then related to the emergence of fragmentation processes which represent internal challenges to hegemonic views of what Canada is, or ought to be. A concluding section argues that although the combined impact of 17

18 IJCS / RIÉC globalization and fragmentation may well be the de-centering of a Canadian, national, identity, this need not be an exclusively negative development. Instead, it is suggested that by reducing the centrality of the nation as the basis of personal and group identities, new spaces may be opened up for the creation and/or expression of additional identities; ones which may ultimately prove instrumental in redirecting global integration away from the reinforcement of prevailing hegemonies and toward more balanced, fulfilling and equitable human experiences. Nationalist Ideology and the Construction of the Canadian Nation- State As indicated above, the dominant trend of human history has been one of interest, sometimes tempered by fear but often balanced by curiosity, in other places and peoples. This interest has been manifested in broad patterns of cultural diffusion and mixing which have been the product of both choice and imposition. Until the development of the ideology of nationalism in the 18th century, these patterns produced a kind of internationalism that was driven by the needs and aspirations of those who held power in a succession of empires, and later, states, which rose and fell in various corners of the world. These empires, and the states which succeeded them, were usually characterized by cultural heterogeneity, and loyalties to these larger entities were frequently superimposed on, but did not actively seek to displace, existing smaller-scale loyalties to family, tribe and/or village. From this situation, the ideology of nationalism emerged to transform notions of internationalism, and this is where the origins of contemporary concerns about globalization can be found. Beginning in western Europe, nationalism altered the prevailing situation in two important ways (cf. Penrose & May 1991; Peirson 1996; Smith 1995: 11-12; Wallerstein 1974). First, the ideology of nationalism promoted the Enlightenment notion of popular sovereignty which argued that sovereignty rested with the people rather than hereditary rulers. This generated the parallel conviction that the government of states should be representative of all of their inhabitants. Second, nationalism adopted the Romanticist notion of the nation as its definition of the fundamental units of humanity and, consequently, as the designation of the people which governments would serve. This new unit of the nation was conceptualized as the immutable product of bonding through shared history, meanings and practices between distinctive groups of people and the territories which they occupied. The ideology of nationalism linked these two ideas to the foundation of a new world order by investing them with a natural, and hence inviolable, right to power. It did so by arguing that unless specific nations controlled their own affairs they would be unable to provide government that served the needs of their people. Accordingly, proponents of nationalism worked to create nationstates. They did so because such units were seen as the only ones capable of ensuring that the boundaries of the fundamental units of humanity (nations) were coterminous with those of the political systems (states) which would ensure the survival of nations as the laws of nature intended. From this point on, nation-states became the sole, rightful repositories of sovereign power and 18

19 The Impact of Globalization and Fragmentation on the Canadian Nation-State hence, the only legitimate mediators of international interaction. Internationalism lost its loose definition and flexible practice and came, instead, to refer to formalized interaction between nation-states which were, ideally at least, free, equal and sovereign (Hayes 1945: 11-12). Although the principles of nationalism are logically sound at an abstract level and broadly appealing in their simplicity, they overlook the crucial fact that, in practice, it is extremely difficult to divide human beings into discrete groups. In part, this is because most people who have power over others and over the territory which they occupy demonstrate a profound reluctance to relinquish this power. At the same time though, the difficulty of applying the ideology of nationalism is directly related to the fact that neither people nor territory can be bounded in disconnected or uncontested ways. People have consistently demonstrated multiple and divided loyalties and conflicts over specific areas of land have characterized all of human history. The combination of an attachment to power, and ambiguity about the division of people and territory has meant that political boundaries have consistently taken precedence over less tangible groupings of human beings (Hobsbawm 1992; Billig 1995). In eighteenth century Europe, and in virtually every place where the principles of nationalism have since been applied, this has meant that states have been defined first, and only then have nations been constructed within them in an attempt to generate the cultural unity if not homogeneity demanded by nationalism. Despite this fundamental contradiction between original theory and subsequent practice, the links between membership in a nation and the right of access to expanding civil society encouraged the development of loyalty to the nation-state and a corresponding growth of national identity (cf. Habermas 1996). Crucially, however, this could not have happened without the active intervention of the leaders of newly emerging states. The legitimacy of these states was dependent on the existence of a nation, and because the clear-cut nations of theory were not present, they had to be constructed. In 1931, Carlton Hayes drew attention to this discrepancy between nationalist ideology and the prevailing situation in Europe. He then used a discussion of Jacobin nationalism to describe the processes whereby nation-states were actively constructed to comply with the dictates of nationalism. Despite its apparent historical specificity, this account identifies processes and practices which set in broad brush an example which most subsequent nationalist movements have applied. In the following discussion, each of these mechanisms for creating a nation-state is outlined and their relevance to the Canadian context is explored. This discussion begins with efforts to reinforce the state structure before moving on to processes of nation-building within it. Constructing a Nation-State, Part One: Reinforcing State Structures As indicated above, the starting point for constructing a nation-state was usually the securing of a generic state: namely, a geographical territory and the population which it contained. The next step was to reinforce claims of sovereignty over this territory and people by establishing a strong, centralized power structure, usually in the form of a national government. Right from the 19

20 IJCS / RIÉC beginning, the need for centralized administration was related to the requirements of the prevailing mercantile system which was geared to national economies. These economic considerations were important because they promoted strong links between the success of a discrete integrated internal economy and individual well-being; a connection which helped to build unity while legitimizing the concentration of a wide range of powers. 1 In some countries, even the vestiges of earlier regional autonomy were swept away in order to assert the power of central authority and to undermine local loyalties which might conceivably compete with that demanded by the state. The entrenchment of a centralized power structure was then rounded out by a political system which was dominated by national political parties and by an electoral system which reinforced the national government as the locus of political activity and decision making. Once the political power structure was in place and legitimized, governments could establish legislation which reinforced the authority of the state and facilitated the active creation of a corresponding nation while encouraging loyalty to it. To some extent, the specificities of the Canadian context tempered the process of establishing the parameters of the state as a prerequisite to nation-building. In particular, Canada s colonial origins; its gradual assumption of its current boundaries; and its heavy reliance on immigration to populate the land, meant that the entity of the state was much less of a given than in most European contexts. Nevertheless, Canadian history reveals a similar pattern of concerted attempts to entrench the fundaments of state structure. At the time of Confederation (1867), previously independent colonies were united as the largely self-governing Dominion of Canada within the British Empire. However, the colonial inheritance of regional loyalties and infrastructures had an immediate and restrictive impact on attempts to centralize power. Most importantly, the French-Canadians in Quebec insisted on a federal state structure as a condition of their membership in the new political entity. As this suggests, the centralization of power was compromised right from the beginning by pre-existing threats to state cohesiveness. However, the establishment of a two-tier structure of government sought to defuse these threats through accommodation and, as argued further below, this may have worked to contain many demands of French-Canadian activism within the realm of provincial politics for much of the formative period of the Canadian nation-state. Moreover, the integrity of the Canadian state was reinforced by restricting the scope of provincial autonomies and by integrating them into a structure of government which ascribed substantial, and in some instances overriding, powers to the federal level (Gibbins, 1994, 32-37). In Canada, as in other countries, the entrenchment of a centralized power structure was rounded out by a political system which was dominated by national political parties. In the period prior to Confederation, resistance to colonial oligarchies had led, by degrees, to the achievement of responsible government (i.e., government responsible to the people) and with this, the emergence of political parties to replace independent candidacies. This situation was formalized with Confederation and, between then and 1921 only two parties, the Liberals and the Conservatives, contested Federal elections and these have remained the only parties to form a ruling Canadian government. 20