Back to home page

1993 - VOLUME 9, NUMBER 3
THE PATHS OF GENERATIONS
Immigrants and "Ethnics" - France and Quebec

93.30.31 - French - Mikhaël ELBAZ, Département d'anthropologie, Université Laval, Québec, QC G1K 7P4 (Canada)

The Heirs: Generation and Identities among Sephardic Jews in Montreal (Les héritiers: générations et identités chez les Juifs sépharades à Montréal) (p. 13-34)

The author suggests to rethink research on immigrants and their generations, by considering their identification "habitus". He offers a brief synthesis of the North-American literature on immigrants and their generations and holds that genealogical and cultural identities are constructions which exemplify the consequences of modernity. Any analysis of generational positions has to take into account the locations the ascendants maintain in migratory and transethnic networks, material and cultural ressources, the principles of instrumental and symbolic integration in the new country and the power or powerlessness of the immigrants to build a community with institutional completeness. In a brief case study, he compares attitudes and identifications of first and second generation Sephardic Jews in Montreal, showing that the heirs subscribe to panchrony rather than to anay nostalgia and act like a third generation, in terms of Hansen's thesis. (CANADA, UNITED STATES, ETHNIC MINORITIES, CULTURE, GENERATIONS)

93.30.32 - French - Mauro PERESSINI, Centre canadien d'études sur la culture traditionnelle, Musée canadien des civilisations, 100 rue Laurier, CP 3100, suc. "B", Hull, QC J8X 4H2 (Canada)

References and Odd Hobs of Identity. The Life Stories of an Italian Father in Montreal and his Son (Référents et bricolages identitaires. Les histoires de vie d'un père et d'un fils italo-montréalais) (p. 35-62)

Through an analysis of the life stories of an Italian immigrant in Montreal and his son, this article seeks to illustrate both the methodological aspects and some findings of a broader research project. In terms of methodology, the analysis shows how attention to the characters through which the narrators dramatize themselves in their accounts makes it possible to specify each narrator's system of identities by revealing the various orders of identities these characters express, the greater or lesser value attached to each and the relationships that unite or divide them. In terms of findings, the two narratives express two distinct sets of identities, something that can be explained only in part by a difference in generation. The conclusion proposes : 1) to consider how differing educational and socio-economic paths have influenced the construction of the self-images that the narrators present to the interviewer ; 2) to also explore how the contradictions inherent in the relationship between generations in an immigrant context contribute to shaping the different sets of identities revealed. (CANADA, ITALY, IMMIGRANTS, SECOND GENERATION MIGRANTS, EVENT HISTORY SURVEYS)

93.30.33 - French - Deidre MEINTEL, Département de démographie, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, Suc. "A", Montréal, QC H3C 3J7 (Canada)

Transnationality and Transethnicity among Youth of Immigrant Background in Montreal (Transnationalité et transethnicité chez des jeunes issus de milieux immigrés à Montréal) (p. 63-79)

The oral accounts of youth of immigrant origin in Montreal give much evidence of transnationality, that is, ties with the cultural group of origin whether in the country of origin or elsewhere; and of transethnicity, solidarities with other ethnic groups in Montreal that are seen as culturally or structurally similar. Though these two orientations would seem to be somewhat contradictory, they are, we argue, in fact compatible. Both offer numerous advantages to immigrant groups and their members, particularly in the present-day context. (CANADA, IMMIGRANTS, SECOND GENERATION MIGRANTS, INTEGRATION)

93.30.34 - French - Marie-Antoinette HILY et Michel ORIOL, IDERIC, 63 bd de la Madeleine, 06000 Nice (France)

Portuguese Second Generation in France : How to Manage Resources for Assuming One's Identity (Deuxième génération portugaise: la gestion des ressources identitaires) (p. 81-93)

Most members of the Portuguese community eager to succeed in their migration project, chose to remain almost silently present in France. But such strategies aiming at a minimal visibility, which allowed the parents to maintain their cultural identity discreetly, are set aside today by young Portuguese. New processes of mobility and interaction between France and Portugal, socio-economic opportunities on the European Market make young Portuguese more eager to be visible. They may keep a minority status, but they nevertheless try to get at the same time economic promotion and cultural recongnition. (FRANCE, PORTUGAL, SECOND GENERATION MIGRANTS, CULTURE)

93.30.35 - French - Chantal BENAYOUN, Chargée de recherche au CNRS, CIREJ, Université de Toulouse Le Mirail, 5 allée Antonio Machado, 31058 Toulouse Cedex (France)

The Spirit of Today : Definitions of Identity among Jews and Arabs in France (L'esprit du temps: les définitions identitaires chez les Juifs et les Arabes en France) (p. 95-118)

Comparing the emergence of identity demands among Jews and Arabs in France, the author applies herself to show them as contemporary, symmetrical, interdependent and, if necessary, as competitive on the "scene of identity". She particulary analyses spatial, local or transnational references which are brought by both groups to found their respective definitions, also with regard to the use of religious references. She goes on the assumption that present-day ethnic affirmation, that is promoted by the context, may lead to strengthening the "conviction of exile", and, in this way, to formulate new terms about citizenship. (FRANCE, ETHNIC MINORITIES, CULTURE, INTEGRATION)

93.30.36 - French - Mickaël ELBAZ, Jean-Ignace OLAZABAL, Département d'anthropologie, Université Laval, Québec, QC G1K 7P4 (Canada), et Ruth MURBACH, Département des sciences juridiques, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, QC H3C 3P8 (Canada)

Visible Minorities and Affirmative Action : Is There an Inter-generational Contract ? (Minorités visibles et action positive au Canada: une affaire de générations?) (p. 119-146)

The utility and the moral justification of affirmative action or "reverse discrimination" in democratic and liberal societies continues to be a controversial issue, where interpretations in terms of distributive or reversible justice as well as of a possible inter-generational contract can be found. Based on results of an empirical study of the Canadian situation, the authors argue that these policies appear to be a particular mode of handling inter-ethnic tensions in a consociational state, reflecting an implicit logic of inter-generational justice, but that they have unintended side-effects; they categorize those who are labeled visible minorities and place them under the state's legal protection. The particularized universalism of these policies of recognition also indicates the difficulty in adequately thinking about both the equality of others and the management of conflict. (CANADA, ETHNIC MINORITIES, INTEGRATION)

93.30.37 - French - François MORIN, Institut de sciences sociales, 5 allée Antonio Machado, 31058 Toulouse Cedex (France)

Visibility and Invisibility : The Different Paths of Haitian Identity in New York and Montreal (Visibilité et invisibilité: les aléas identitaires des Haïtiens de New York et Montréal) (p. 147-176)

Haitians have been emigrating in mass to the United States and Canada since the 1960s. They will thus tend to replicate the cleavages of their society of origin in both of these receiving societies. This replication, however, will take place differently depending on whether they emigrate to the United States and become "invisible", i.e blacks among Black Americans, or on whether they emigrate to Canada and enter the category of "visible minorities". This article shows which identity-driven strategies Haitians use in both countries to escape the process of racialization. One group has sought to ethnicize its colour. The other group has striven since 1986 to build a transnational identity shared between the diaspora and the country of origin. Such transnationalism has enabled members of this group to live in the United States or Canada while contributing to Haiti's renewal through their know how. The problems encountered by the second generation are also dealt with. It has less leeway for negotiation; nonetheless, the identities it chooses are listed by age and social environment. Some are building a pan-ethnic Caribbean identity as an alternative to assimilation. (UNITED STATES, CANADA, HAITI, IMMIGRANTS, INTEGRATION, SECOND GENERATION MIGRANTS)

Back to home page