CAHIERS QUEBECOIS DE DEMOGRAPHIE

Canada (Montréal) 07

AUTUMN 1997 - VOLUME 26, NUMBER 2

98.07.7 - French - Nicole MALPAS, NM Consultants, 26 rue Wilmart, 4032 Chênée-Liège (Belgium)

Destination: Montréal. A study of emigration from Casacalenda (Molise) (Destination : Montréal. L'étude de l'émigration en provenance de Casacalenda (Molise)) (p. 155-189)

Is Montréal as important on the map of emigration from Molise (Italy), especially from Casacalenda, as Molise and Casacalenda seem to be on the map of Italian immigration to Montréal? Whereas most earlier studies were based on aggregate data, the author examines this question here using passport records and conscription lists, two sources that have until now been overlooked by historians and demographers. These sources allow researchers to describe migratory movements in far greater detail and to highlight the importance of multiple migrations, which have often been noted but never estimated. The result is a better understanding of the rates of migration from Casacalenda; of the relative importance of Canada, and especially Montréal, as a destination for migrants; and of the existence of two quite distinct migration contexts for men and women. (CANADA, ITALY, HISTORICAL DEMOGRAPHY, EMIGRATION, DATA COLLECTION)

98.07.8 - French - Richard MARCOUX, Département de sociologie, Pavillon Charles-De Koninck, Université Laval, Québec G1K 7P4 (Canada)

Nuptiality and the persistence of polygamy in urban areas in Mali (Nuptialité et maintien de la polygamie au Mali) (p. 191-214)

Various analytical models have attempted to explain the bases of polygamy in Africa. Many authors have predicted the imminent decline of polygamy, especially in urban areas, in suggesting that this matrimonial institution is unsuited to the urban lifestyle. The available data on Mali enable us to question this point of view. Although there have been major transformations in nuptiality patterns in urban areas in Mali (growing celibacy and an increase in the average age at marriage), the fact remains that the incidence of polygamy showed no significant change from 1960 to 1987. An examination of some of the economic characteristics of women in polygamous unions and of the households to which they belong seems to point to some interesting research approaches to increase our understanding of the persistence of this matrimonial institution in certain African cities. (MALI, URBAN ENVIRONMENT, POLYGAMY)

98.07.9 - French - Danièle BELANGER, Department of Sociology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A 5C2 (Canada)

Coresidence patterns and intergenerational relations in Vietnam (Modes de cohabitation et liens intergénérationnels au Vietnam) (p. 215-245)

This paper studies the Vietnamese family by exploring family structures. A brief analysis of historical data from the colonial period is followed by a more detailed examination of data from the World Bank Living Standards Study 1992-93 including data on 4,800 households. In addition to presenting the first nationwide findings on the makeup of Vietnamese households, the paper analyzes the data from an individual viewpoint. This approach allows the author to provide an overview of family life at the various stages of life. Overall, the findings show the complexity of the family environment, the importance of intergenerational relations and the lack of a significant increase in the nuclear family in Vietnam. (VIET NAM, FAMILY COMPOSITION, GENERATIONS)

98.07.10 - French - Gérard BOUCHARD, Mario BOURQUE, Jeannette LAROUCHE and Lise BERGERON, Institut interuniversitaire de recherches sur les populations (IREP), Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, 555 boulevard de l'Université, Chicoutimi, Québec G7H 2B1 (Canada)

Decennial censuses of the labour force using a population register: Presentation of a methodology (Recensement décennal de la population active à l'aide d'un fichier de population. Présentation d'une méthodologie) (p. 247-276)

This paper describes a methodology allowing to use the BALSAC population register (for the Saguenay region) to simulate 10-year censuses of the so-called active (male) population at the regional level. The method set forth takes into account a number of biases and deficiencies related to under-registration of demographic events and under-declaration of occupations in the birth, marriage and death records (most of the BALSAC register is based on computerized family reconstitution). The method also includes mechanisms for adjustments and weighting of the primary data, based on various validations and testing. Thus, it becomes possible to analyze the regional and sub-regional male job structure and its evolution between 1851 and 1961, using uniform criteria and classification grid. This kind of analysis cannot be carried out with the canadian government censuses because of too many methodological changes, from one decade to another, and because the data are not always available at the county scale. (CANADA, HISTORICAL DEMOGRAPHY, POPULATION REGISTERS, CENSUSES, LABOUR FORCE, METHODOLOGY)

98.07.11 - French - René HOULE, Centre d'Estudis Demogràfics, Université autonome de Barcelone, 08193 Cerdanyola del Valles, Barcelone (Spain)

E-mail : rhoule@cedserver.uab.es.

Factors influencing changes in the knowledge of Catalan in Spanish Catalonia (Les facteurs d'évolution de la connaissance du catalan en Catalogne espagnole) (p. 277-305)

This paper investigates changes in the knowledge of Catalan in Catalonia. The author uses data from the four most recent censuses to monitor the evolution of this phenomenon from 1975 to 1991. After a brief look at the social, political and legal context of the Catalonian language in Catalonia. the paper considers the type of data used and overall changes in the population's knowledge of the language. It then explores factors contributing to the observed changes through a more detailed analysis of the data. The paper first discusses the role of primary and secondary education, and then turns to the question of the linguistic integration of immigrants, a group that still makes up half the adult population of the independent Catalonian community. The paper's conclusion is optimistic regarding trends evinced by the recent changes. (SPAIN, REGIONS, NATURAL LANGUAGE)

98.07.12 - French - Charles CASTONGUAY, Département de mathématiques, Université d'Ottawa, C.P. 450, succ. A, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5 (Canada)

Language shift trends in Montréal's west island and the western part of the Outaouais region between 1971 and 1991 (Tendances de l'assimilation linguistique dans l'ouest de l'île de Montréal et l'ouest de l'Outaouais de 1971 à 1991) (p. 307-322)

Changes in the census questionnaire since 1971 and high differential out-migration according to language characteristics have undermined the comparability of successive census data on language shift between English and French in the greater part of Quebec. In the two regions least sensitive to these factors, notwithstanding language policies in support of French, the dynamics of language shift between English and French in 1991 seem to work to the benefit of English at least as strongly as in 1971. This ascendancy of English endures despite a considerable increase in the relative importance of the French-speaking component of the population as well as a marked decrease in the gap between the knowledge of English and that of French in both regions. (CANADA, REGIONS, NATURAL LANGUAGE)

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