Browsing by Author "Down, Allison"

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    The struggle for self-determination : a comparative study of ethnicity and nationalism among the Quebecois and the Afrikaners
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 1999-12) Down, Allison; Bekker, S. B.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Sociology & Social Anthropology.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis examines the structural factors that precipitate the emergence of ethnicity and nationalism, with a special emphasis on ethno-Iinguistic identity. Nationalist momentum leading to self-determination is also addressed. A historical comparative study of the Quebecois of Canada and the Afrikaners of South Africa is presented. The ancestors of both the Quebecois and the Afrikaners left Europe (France and the Netherlands, respectively) to establish a new colony. Having disassociated themselves from their European homeland, they each developed a new, more relevant identity for themselves, one which was also vis-a-vis the indigenous population. Both cultures were marked by a rural agrarian existence, a high degree of religiosity, and a high level of Church involvement in the state. Then both were conquered by the British and expected to conform to the English-speaking order. This double-layer of colonialism proved to be a significant contributing factor to the ethnic identity and consciousness of the Quebecois and the Afrikaners, as they perceived a threat to their language and their cultural institutions. Nationalist movements provided a forum for the expression of their ethnic identity and demands for autonomy. However, as the Afrikaners' political realm encompassed all of South Africa, and the Quebecois' was limited to the province of Quebec, their strategies for self-preservation deviated upon assuming political power. Presently, Afrikaner nationalism is reduced to a small fragment aspiring to separatism in the form of a volkstaat. Quebecois nationalism, though, is still very strong with a separatist party still in power.