Title: Sovereignties Old and New: Canada, Quebec, and Aboriginal Peoples
Abstract: In the age of nation-states, it has been a fundamental concept in international relations and international law. Sovereignty has also acted as a powerful reinforcement of the internal authority of the nation-state and the hegemony of its dominant social forces. In the present era of globalization and transnational corporations, sovereignty as a concept is being increasingly called into question, as is the legitimacy of the nation-state. Ironically, just as sovereignty is revealed as theoretically problematic, it has emerged as the rallying-cry and philosophical justification of the most effective political challenge to the integrity of the existing state structure in Canada: the Quebec sovereignty movement. This is a paradox. A challenge to old state structures is formulated in language that, even as it inverts, also mirrors the very concept that underpins the structures that are challenged. The political stalemate that results is a confrontation of two sovereignties, Canadian and Quebecois, each claiming exclusivity, while contesting the same ground. It is this paradox I wish to address. I will first examine the limitations of classical sovereignty as applied to Canada, where it has always been a misleading guide. Quebec sovereignty shares with its Canadian antagonist a common contradiction, the abandonment of the economic dimension of sovereignty while insisting on a political definition alone. Quebec's sovereignty project is not one of economic nationalism but neither is it one of ethnic nationalism. It is, instead,
Publication Year: 1999
Publication Date: 1999-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 9
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