An Atmosphere of Libération: The Role of Decolonization in the France-Quebec Rapprochement of the 1960s

Abstract

Decolonization's impact was by no means restricted to the Global South. It is impossible to understand developments in the Canada-Quebec-France triangle in the 1960s without referring to the discourse, ideas, and examples of anti-colonial resistance that marked international life after the Second World War. In addition to influencing the postwar development of France and Quebec, the decolonization phenomenon figured prominently in the process of rapprochement that developed between them in the post-1945 period. After discussing the global reach of decolonization, this article examines its impact on the Canada-Quebec-France triangle. Particular attention is paid to its intellectual and political consequences, notably the ‘Quebec as colony’ metaphor and the reimagining of France as a champion of decolonization. The intersection between these two ideas was crucial to the evolution of the France–Quebec relationship.

Empire, Continent and Transnationalism in Canadian History: Essays in Honor of John Herd Thompson

“…People, commodities, and ideas moved in and through different parts of the empire, refashioning imperial experiences, structures, and identities in myriad ways (Ballantyne 2001, para 38, 39;Lester 2002;Potter 2007;Lambert and Lester 2006;Woollacott 2006;Laidlaw 2005). These developments have certainly reverberated in the recent scholarship of empire in Canada, a field characterized by an increasingly complex, culturally diverse, and geographically expansive interpretive field (Webb 2013;Mills 2010;Hastings 2013;Asaka 2012;Henderson 2013;Meren 2011;Price 2011;Horner 2013).…”