Complicating the Two Solitudes: An Introduction to Intersectionality Through Quebec’s Bill 101
Photo by Michael Beener on Unsplash
Photo par Michael Beener sur Unsplash
Cai Mitchell
(FR) Ce court article applique une perspective intersectionnelle aux débats linguistiques au Québec en analysant la Charte de la langue française et ses effets. L’article présente une description simple de l’intersectionnalité telle que conceptualisée par Patricia Hill Collins et une mise en pratique de la théorie. L’article interroge l’idée des deux solitudes, dans laquelle la société québécoise se trouve supposément divisée en une majorité francophone et une minorité anglophone. Au lieu l’article questionne le rôle de la langue comme signifiant important au Québec, soulignant que les anglophones ne sont pas homogènes et que les individus sont touchés différemment par ces lois selon leurs expériences vécues. L’article postule finalement que la Charte de la langue française et autres lois similaires renforcent les relations de pouvoir actuelles par l'assujettissement des populations immigrées, ce qui ne peut être compris qu'à travers une perspective intersectionnelle.
The lens of intersectionality need not be restricted to analyses of issues that are transparently about race, class, or gender: it is an analytic tool that can, and should, be applied to a variety of circumstances. One social issue that has the potential to be explored through an intersectional lens is the so-called language divide in Quebec, as expressed through Bill 101 —or the Charte de la langue française—which is intended to protect the status of the French language in Quebec (Behiels and Hudon, 2021). Some aspects of Bill 101 have been heavily criticized by anglophones, particularly restrictions on anglophone schooling and signage (Auger, 2021). Additionally, Quebec introduced a recent bill that obligates all immigrants to learn French within six months of their arrival in the province (Schué, 2022). This bill also prohibits individuals from requesting that government services — including essential care such as hospitalization — be delivered in English (Lurie, 2022). If one examines this issue only from the primary angle of anglophones versus francophones, the argument could be made that, seeing as anglophones are the majority in Canada, these reforms are simply an attempt to maintain francophone culture. Alternatively, one might say that Francophones, as the majority in Quebec, are oppressing the anglo--Quebecer minority. However, an intersectional lens complicates these binary views of language laws.
Following Patricia Hill Collins’ conceptualization in Intersectionality as Critical Social Theory, guiding premises include the idea that systems of domination are interdependent, power relations produce interlocking social inequalities, and social location shapes one’s perspective, or standpoint (Collins 2019, 44). Intersectionality extends beyond race/class/gender strata to include other aspects of lived experience, identity, and oppression (39).
Intersectionality examines systems of power from a historically and socially situated lens (60). From a historical angle, a strong argument for strict language laws emerges due to the oppression of francophones as a linguistic and cultural minority in Canada. However, currently, anglophones are not only a minority in Quebec, but also face higher rates of unemployment and lower median incomes (CBC News 2022). This juxtaposition indicates that oppression is not a simple matter of adding up identities, but instead examining how systems of power are enacted.
Intersectionality conceptualizes power as interlocking instead of additive (Collins, 44). An interlocking model acknowledges that interactions of facets of one’s lived experience can have differingeffects. For example, the experiences of a white anglophone who was born in Quebec will be different than those of an immigrant anglophone of colour. This is not simply because white natural-born citizens are prioritized, but because the contexts in which they use language and access systems of power are different. For example, for anglo-Quebecers who were born and raised in Quebec, the loss of the ability to access medical services in English can be a major impediment (Bourhis and Sioufi 2017, 627). However, these anglo-Quebecers are not living under the obligation to learn French at risk of losing a path to citizenship, unlike anglophone and allophone immigrants.
Interlocking systems of domination reinforce hegemonic power. Power can be enforced structurally through bureaucracies, but power is also enacted at an interpersonal level (Collins, 184). Additionally, systems of power are self-reinforcing across several levels of hegemony. For example, the law that prohibits anglophones from accessing essential services in English does not apply to individuals who were educated in English in Canada (Lurie 2022). Although this law is meant to preserve the French language, its effect is that it solidifies the security of anglophone Canadian-born citizens over that of recent anglophone immigrants. The evaluation of individual standpoints can be used to show how race, class, and gender become important avenues of analysis. These laws do not explicitly target any protected group, but many reforms implicitly appy to immigrants, many of whom are people of colour. It will be exponentially more difficult for working-class immigrants to find the time for their government-mandated classes, and to be able to access the additional language resources available to wealthier immigrants. Women are more likely to take on the caring role in their families, leading them to take on the burden of translating for their loved ones accessing essential services, or to have less time to learn the language for themselves. All of these perspectives are not evident through a straightforward reading of the law, but emerge when one considers how one’s race, gender, class, and individual circumstances may inform their relationship to the law.
An intersectional lens provides a rich framework for analyzing social issues, not just as paradigm, but also through the use of intersectionality as a heuristic. This can help to apply intersectionality not just in straightforward matters of identity, but to analyze problems beyond the surface level and seek out the interlocking systems at play (Collins 2019, 34). Intersectionality helps us consider which systems and communities are seen as objective, and which are seen as subjective. In a Quebec context, the intersectional lens should serve as a tool to question how we frame linguistic debates, who counts as Québécois, and who the law serves.