Micheline Labelle, François Rocher
et Ann-Marie Field

“Contentious Politics and Transnationalism
from Below: The Case of Ethnic
and Racialized Minorities in Quebec.”

Un article publié dans l’ouvrage sous la direction de Vic Satzewich et Lloyd Wong (dir.), Transnational Identities and Practices in Canada, pp. 111-129. Vancouver, UBC Press, 2006, 360 pp.

Introduction

Minorities, Transnationalism, and Citizenship

Interpreting the Positions of Leaders of Ethnic and Racialized Minorities

Claims and Repertoire of Action of Ethnic and Racialized Minorities

Participation in Transnational Networks and Embedded Citizenship

Heterogeneous Motivations for Transnational Activism

Instrumentalizing Transnationalism

Conclusion : Toward Transnational, Postnational, or Global Citizenship ?

Acknowledgments

INTRODUCTION

Historically, citizenship has presupposed a set of rights and duties, shared identity, and membership in a particular political and national community. The multinational and multiethnic framework of Canadian and Quebec society makes this type of membership and the political construction of identity even more complex. Moreover, we must also consider what belonging means when immigrants and minorities draw on multiple identities and citizenship, particularly when these multiple affiliations are reinforced by spokespersons and intellectuals who advocate transnationalism and defend the well-known fact that immigrants and minorities often establish close, long-term links with their countries of origin or with global community and diasporic flows.

The international ties of solidarity emerging from the fight against racism and discrimination are not new phenomena in Canada and Quebec. The ethno-history and social history of numerous minority groups in Canada provide a vast field for research into the forms and sources of transnational protest politics that oppose racism, sexism, and systemic discrimination.

Engagement in transnational activities by different types of social and political actors is not a new phenomenon. However, given the revolution in transport and communication media, as well as the intensity of global, human, cultural, and political flows, the present approach of transnationalism provides an interesting perspective from which to study minority protest politics. This approach allows us to rediscover a segment of a counterpublic whose transborder activities aim at a global reach (Drache 2004) and have grass-roots origins (Portes 2003, 874-76). It is important to note that not all migrant groups or all minorities are in a position to practice transnationalism.

The first section of this chapter presents the theoretical approaches that inspire our interpretation of transnational practices of ethnic and racialized minorities within the Quebec context. The second section presents our methodology and provides an overview of our fieldwork. We conducted interviews during the period 2001-02 with social actors who are activists within associations that defend the rights of ethnic and racialized minorities. The following sections outline the claims put forward by these actors, their “repertoire of actions” (McAdam, Tarrow, and Tilly 2001), and their transnational practices as well as their understanding of “transnational citizenship.”

Minorities, Transnationalism, and Citizenship

During the last decade, theorists who focus on postnational citizenship and globalization have stressed the impact of the international human-rights regime on social and associative movements, documenting increased integration of legal arguments in claims and the broadened scope of democracy (Sommier 2001, 87; Lochak 2002). Given the impact of the norms upheld by this international regime, some have concluded (too quickly, in our opinion) that there has been a significant erosion of national citizenship linked to the nation-state. They base their observations on the fact that citizenship acquisition, political participation, and integration in the “host society” are no longer prerequisites for the protection and integration of noncitizen residents (Schmitter-Heisler 2000). This thesis lacks nuance. It will be discussed in the last section of the chapter.

Transnational protests by migrants and minorities can be interpreted either as an expression of their resistance to assimilation, as one of the perverse effects of neocolonialism and globalization on their country of origin, or as a conseqence of their fragmented incorporation into the work place and the institutions of the “host society.” Thus Michel Laguerre (1999) claims that “diasporic citizenship” represents a protest position against the social spaces where the racialized minorities of Western societies are confined. Constructed and controlled by the dominant system, these minority spaces help to maintain and reproduce a subaltern minority identity. In contrast, Thomas Faist (2000b) suggests that transnational social spaces are a survival strategy, and Vertovec (1999, 453-55) describes them as sites of political engagement.

Others (ourselves included) question the characterization of transnational practices of migrants and minorities as necessarily liberating. In all Western countries, minorities are organized into hierarchies, with some groups being better off in economic, political, and cultural terms. They are not homogeneous. Furthermore, internally, some elements promote reactionary or conservative positions or are based on essentialist identities (Castells 1999; Guarnizo and Smith 1998). Thus, as Guarnizo and Smith conclude: “the liminal sites of transnational practices and discourses can be used for the purposes of capital accumulation quite as effectively as for the purpose of contesting hegemonic narratives of race, ethnicity, class, and nation” (6).

The elements of contemporary transnational practices strengthen the networking strategies of groups involved in protest actions as well as the role played by international institutions in the construction of a transnational space as a locus for political mobilization. However, since the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 in New York and Washington, DC, which were launched in part by foreign nationals residing in the United States, it has become vital to stress that activsit mobilization has come in response to the progression of conservative and right-wing ideologies, racism, an obsession with security, and the infringement of civil rights in several countries.

In fact, the increasing visibility of transnational activities by minorities (national, racialized, religious, immigration-related, diasporic, etc.) has become a priority on the list of concerns for both internal and foreign policies of North American and European societies. In the current international context, the security measures to control transborder activities (Drache 2004) come together with the ideological dominance of the “clash of civilizations” thesis (Huntington 1996) to portray immigration and minorities in extremely politicized terms. The fear that “ethnic communities” become the driving force of foreign interests working within Western political groups is not new (Portes, Guarnizo, and Landolt 1999). This concern arose in 1994 when members of the Standing Committee on Citizenship were consulted on the revision of the Canadian Citizenship Act. They said that they agreed with a number of witnesses who deplored the presence of those who import and perpetuate, in Canada, their ethnic and nationalist interests, arguing that those who choose to come to live in Canada should demonstrate allegiance to Canadian standards, values, and principles (Comité 1994, 15; see also Labelle and Salée 1999). This perception lies in a socio-political and ideological context characterized by the increasing regulatory constraints imposed on societal actors, particularly those affected by security measures that limit migratory flows. The concept of security has also served as a moralizing leitmotiv, articulated around the idea of anomie, or the loss of national values (Bigo 1998, 2002). Although present before, the obsession with security was greatly reinforced following 11 September 2001.

Amid this obsession with security, the one point that we must stress in particular is the transformation of racism and discrimination in this new context. Rodolfo Stavenhagen has distinguished various stages in the analysis of racism since the founding of the United Nations. In the first stage, racism is primarily identified with the Nazi ideology. During that time, the United Nations’ response in the fight against racism was embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948 (Article 2). A second stage derives from the struggles against colonialism or apartheid and from the civil-rights movement in the United States. At that time, the United Nations proclaimed the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, 1960, incorporated in the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights, 1966 (paragraph 2). Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, various analysis pointed to a neoracism targeting migrant workers, refugees, former colonial subjects, and their descendants (Stavenhagen 2002; Wieviorka 1998).

Currently, most analyses focus on structural and economic racism resulting from increasing inequalities worldwide. This racism must be seen as “a system of power relations between racialized actors, including not only individuals, but also institutions, the state and the global economy” (Stavenhagen 2002, 43). Poverty in the South, compared to a fortress of prosperity in the North, is a major indicator of these disparities. This form of racism thrives in highly industrialized societies, as shown in negative changes to immigration policies and in restructured workplaces. Moreover, the period since 11 September 2001 has seen the stigmatization of Arabs and Muslims (Antonius 2002).

The current struggles against racism are characterized by claims that require us to develop new understandings of justice and of recognition. As Rodolpho Stavenhagen (2002, 43) remarks: “Identity and identification, dignity and diversity, power and politics, rights and resources: these are some of the contested spaces in the struggle against discrimination and racism in our post-colonial, globalized world.”

Interpreting the Positions of Leaders
of Ethnic and Racialized Minorities

For decades the Quebec government has contributed to the struggle against racism through public policies and the implementation of special job-creation and employment-equity programs, by financing community groups, and by supporting awareness campaigns against racism and discrimination, among other initiatives. Despite these state actions, studies conclude that racialized minorities are underemployed in the workplace and that they face disparities in salaries, professional segregation, and underrepresentation in public institutions (Government of Quebec 1996, 1999; Torczyner 1997; Icart 2001; Labelle and Lévy 1995; Labelle and Midy 1999; Jedwab 2001).

The actors whom we refer to in this text take part in social movements associated with ethnic, racialized, and immigrant identity groups that join forces in Quebec society. Our goal is to make known their claims as well as their repertoire of actions, their transnational practices, and the networks linked to international institutions and transnational nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). It will become clear that the main objective of these transnational activities is to promote various causes on the local and national fronts in order to generate changes in institutions and in Quebec and Canadian politics, although pushing for changes worldwide is at times also an objective.

Following the example of Aboriginal peoples’ defence groups, the movement associated with ethnic, racialized, and immigrant identity uses transnational activist networks that include actors working on an international scale who are linked by shared values, a common discourse, and dense exchanges of information and services (Tarrow 2000, 209). These networks vary in size and structure based on the place, time, and level of institutionalization as influenced by the state and public policies (Pal 1993; Soysal 1994). They put forward claims for an alternative to neoliberal globalization (Sommier 2001, 69). Often, but not always, their leaders act according to resistance identities, which Manuel Castells (1999, 8) defines as follows: “resistance identity is generated by those actors that are in positions/conditions devalued and/or stigmatised by a logic of domination, thus building trenches of resistance and survival, on the basis of principles different, or opposed to, those permeating the institutions of society.” In contrast to Aboriginal peoples, ethnic and racialized minorities do not aspire to governmental autonomy or self-determination, which Natives may seek based on the past occupation of a given territory, on issues of nondominance, and/or on identity claims (Schulte-Tenckhoff 1997, 9-10).

Minority defence groups are part of a body of “new protest movements.” These movements bring together three types of groups: (1) people who experience absolute or relative suffering; (2) politicized and competent militants and association leaders; (3) experts and resource persons needed at a given time, such as intellectuals, jurists, civil servants, and consultants on international institutions (Sommier 2001, 49-53).

Our analysis is based on twenty-one in-depth interviews with activists or spokespersons belonging to one of twenty associations or NGOs chosen according to three selection criteria: the associations had to be (1) pressure groups, not just simple service or cultural organizations; (2) based in the Montreal area; and (3) participants to varying degrees in pan-Canadian networks.¹

Five of the twenty associations that we investigated are umbrella organizations. Either they have an antiracism action committee (e.g., Ligue des droits et libertés, LDL) or antiracism subgroup (e.g., Alternatives), or they target various types of discrimination (e.g., Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations, Canadian Council for Refugees).

Each of the other fifteen associations represents a specific group within Quebec society. These associations are mobilized according to a particular identity marker: religion, nationality, or colour (e.g., Jews, blacks, Muslims, Latin Americans, Chinese, etc.). The majority of these work to protect racialized minorities in Canadian and Quebec society (e.g., Black Coalition of Quebec, Canadian Arab Federation, Communauté vietnamienne au Canada). The interviews were carried out between August 2001 and June 2002, most of them after the events of 11 September 2001.

Claims and Repertoire of Action
of Ethnic and Racialized Minorities

Although there is not necessarily complete agreement among spokespersons, they share numerous concerns that lead to similar claims. A first group of claims touches upon human rights and the protection of vulnerable social categories, including migrants and refugees, women, children born or socialized in Canada (e.g., fighting against the expulsion of immigrants who are minors but have committed crimes in Canada or who are not Canadian citizens but have been socialized in Canada), sexual minorities, and Native peoples.

Some claims target economic integration, eradication of poverty, economic inequalities, and work conditions for certain immigrant categories (e.g., domestic workers are not protected by labour standards in Quebec), or they question Canadian citizenship as an employment criteria for some positions -- a measure that is seen as obsolete in a knowledge-based economy requiring international mobility for work, according to a spokesperson for the Centre for Research Action on Race Relations (CRARR). Other claims focus on social insertion and social and political participation. They question both the effectiveness of pursuing legal recourse for victims of racism and these victims’ representation within public institutions, the political arena, and the media of the racialized or ethnic groups that the interviewees’ associations defend.

Claims that have an international reach include questions raised about continental integration and regional commercial agreements, the effects of neoliberal globalization, and the potential for an alternative model to the current one of neoliberal globalization in the name of a “common humanity.” Issues that focus on the country of origin are pushed forward by the diaspora, including democracy, cooperation, development aid, and Canada’s foreign policy.

Fights against sexism, racism, Arabophobia, Islamophobia, and anti-Semitism constitute a priority. Central to certain groups’ actions are cultural rights regarding, for example, language, religion, access to public funds to maintain a particular heritage, and different forms of recognition in civil society. Also among the most important issues for certain groups is the state’s duty to redress past wrongs, such as those suffered by victims of slavery in America or by those subjected to discriminatory immigration policies (e.g., the Chinese head tax). Many NGOs are also interested in the problems linked to “intersectionality,” “a term introduced by legal theorists to refer to the specific conditions that exist when one holds two or more social statuses and the results that arise from that combination” (Jedwab 2004, 2).

Identity markers can work as obstacles when trying to come together against some form of oppression. Spokespersons have explained the difficulties of mobilizing minorities based on assigned or “designated” identities (e.g., black community, Latin Americans, visible minorities). One spokesperson mentioned that Canadians and Quebeckers tend to perceive Latin Americans as forming a monolithic and homogeneous community. Not only are there profound differences between Argentineans, Chileans, and Salvadorians, but differences based on social class within a national group can also be an important determining factor. Regardless, because Latin Americans are defined as one homogenous group, they must take advantage of the opportunity offered by this false assumption and organize themselves in pressure groups, speaking as one voice in order to have a greater influence on the municipal, provincial, and federal political scenes.

People of African descent and those belonging to the Jewish and Arabic communities in Quebec also face tensions attributable to their historic, national, linguistic, religious, and class differences. Historically, Quebec’s language and national questions have contributed to the political construction of these tensions (Labelle and Lévy 1995). The generational card is also at play. One young leader sees a need to recognize “a shared black Quebec experience.” He attributes the divisions within black communities to the fact that middle-class, older, first-generation people monopolize community-leadership positions.

As for strategies used to influence outcomes, these are multiple and varied. They include evaluating public policies, lobbying state authorities and leaders in the Quebec, Canadian, and foreign governments, dealing with leaders in workers’ unions and the like, and evaluating major economic and political issues linked to globalization. Professionnal expertise is at times necessary to facilitate these tasks. For example, the Ligue des droits et libertés counts on its relationship with the International Federation for Human Rights in order to evaluate the impact of continental integration in the Americas on human rights.

The judicial dispute mechanism used by CRARR, the Conseil national des citoyens et citoyennes d’origine haïtienne (CONACOH), Black Youth in Action (BYIA), and B’nai Brith is inspired by the American model. It rests on legal expertise. For example, CRARR has launched legal proceedings against various government authorities for problems relating to systemic discrimination. They also look at laws and public policies to verify their compliance with the equality clauses in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and with other international conventions in terms of human rights. CRARR admits that Canada is perceived as a progressive country on issues of diversity, equality, and human rights. Yet they still want to see the concepts of equality and discrimination modified so that they are consistent with progressive jurisprudence in the area of equality rights. This understanding draws from two American theoretical strands: critical race theory and legal feminism.

Other mechanisms used to influence outcomes include the organization of public-opinion campaigns; training and awareness programs using forums, newsletters, and conferences; and consultations with various grass-roots organizations, Canadian and international NGOs, and supranational institutions. The wide use of the Internet allows for the disclosure of information and the organization of awareness and information campaigns. This practice, adopted by minority defence organizations in many countries, promotes information exchange for on-line diasporas and constitutes a battleground for political opponents in exile (Dewitte 2002). In Quebec, Jews, Chileans, Haitians, Africans, Asians, and other ethnic minorities also use this method. For example, the Canadian Togolese Community (CTC) uses the Internet to disclose information and to press for democracy in Togo (see http://www.diastode.org/ausujet.html). Indeed, new technologies favour transnationalism from below, globalization, and the internationalization of “know how.” Thus Haitians are linked through haitipressnetwork.com, metropolehaiti.com, and sakapfet.com.

Some organizations prefer observation missions or economic and political cooperation abroad. The CTC, the Association of Islamic Charitable Projects, the Arab Canadian Human Rights Organization, the Communauté vietnamienne au Canada, and B’nai Brith lobby members of Parliament, ambassadors, and international organizations, targeting foreign policy and international relations. Some associations present reports to various committees and tribunals of the United Nations. Alternatives, a human-rights organization, is part of international networks, including the World Social Forum of Porto Allegre, the Quebec Network on Continental Integration, and the Canadian Council for International Cooperation.

Associations that are better off financially participate in national and international conferences in collaboration with Canadian and foreign government organizations (e.g., “World Conference against Racism, Racialized Discrimination, and Xenophobia and Related Intolerance” in Durban). Some organize meetings for youth and their communities (e.g., Association of Islamic Charitable Projects, B’nai Brith). Finally, others seek reparations for historic wrongdoing (e.g., Chinese Canadian National Council).

In preparing the 3rd People’s Summit, the LDL, a member of the Quebec Network on Continental Integration, collaborated with the Canadian organization Common Frontiers under the aegis of the Continental Social Alliance, which comprises national coalitions, regional organizations -- such as the Interamerican Workers Regional Organization and Coordinadora Latinoamericana de Organizasiones del Campo (CLOC) -- and other associations from Latin America. According to an LDL representative, use of the Internet has facilitated the success of their operations. He is aware, however, that not all NGOs have the expertise and technical equipment for projects of this magnitude or the financial resources to send participants abroad. The magnitude of this project prevented the LDL from participating in the United Nations’ “World Conference against Racism” in Durban in 2001, a forum that it also considered important.

Associations with limited means keep their participation in networks to a minimum (e.g., being on a listserver or exchanging e-mails) or associate themselves with umbrella organizations that can promote their views in different forums. For example, the Congress of Black Women works in association with the Fédération des femmes du Québec to foster progress on issues on its agenda.

Participation in Transnational Networks
and Embedded Citizenship

All NGOs chosen for our study engage in either formal or informal international activities, with eight of the twenty associations being part of structured networks and the others participating in less formal ones. In the category of structured networks, we can distinguish two types: diasporic networks targeting specific communities or groups (e.g., Chinese, Togolese, Haitian, Vietnamese, Arab, Jewish, etc.) and those with a more general aim (e.g., the LDL and the Canadian Council for Refugees), which focus on issues such as immigration, right of asylum, human rights, and the impact of neoliberal globalization on freedom and rights.

With respect to diasporic networks, several associations advocate developing and maintaining political ties with compatriots dispersed abroad. The Association des Chiliens du Québec maintains links with Chile through its participation in the 14th Region, or, as it is called, the Dirección de las Comunidades Chilenas en el Exterior, which comprises Chilean citizens living abroad. This is a government initiative overseen by the Ministry of Foreign Relations, an agency mandated specifically to bring diasporic Chileans together. In the case of the Canadian Togolese Community, this diasporic network aims essentially to coordinate political action, influence the political life in the country of origin, and promote democracy. In a similar way, members of the Communauté vietnamienne au Canada work to promote Vietnamese culture in Canada and Quebec and to combat communism in their home country. These activities by diasporic networks remind us of the Haitian associations in Quebec that have long advocated the recognition of the Haitian diaspora as the 10th Haitian Department (Labelle et Midy 1999). This recognition has, in fact, been achieved through the Alliance of Haitians Overseas, “designed to represent the interests of the Haitian communities overseas within Haiti ... and to articulate the Diaspora’s vision of a national social and political space that accounts for them as potentially important actors in the nation’s development” (http://www.representaction.net). Similarly, a Congrès mondial haïtien, inspired by the World Jewish Congress, is in the making in Montreal.

The Centre d’études arabes pour le développement (CÉAD) has been part of the NGO Network on the Question of Palestine within the United Nations (UN). This network was established under the umbrella of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People of the UN General Assembly. It includes representatives from North America, Europe, and the Middle East.

The B’nai Brith in Quebec represents a section of B’nai Brith International, whose head office is in Washington and which mounts efforts in fifty-six countries. This international organization’s main concerns are Jewish communities around the world and in Israel. For example, given the critical economic situation in Argentina, B’nai Brith is actively committed to helping the Jewish community there. B’nai Brith International is one of the rare, if not the only, NGOs to have a regular office at the United Nations, according to their spokesperson. The Quebec branch also networks with other Jewish NGOs in Quebec, elsewhere in Canada, and throughout the world.

The Arab Canadian Human Rights Organization is a section of the Arab Organization for Human Rights based in Cairo. It defends individuals of all origins whose human rights are not respected in Arab countries. It networks with Amnesty International.

One of BYIA’s leaders maintains relations with the Global Afrikan Congress, an international NGO created at the time of the “Afrikans and Afrikan Descendants World Conference against Racism,” held in Bridgetown, Barbados, in October 2002. This organization comprises people of African descent from the continent and the diaspora who join forces to demand compensation from companies or states that took advantage of slavery.

Turning to the networks with a more general function, a number of these associations integrate formal international networks. For example, the Canadian Council for Refugees (CCR) is a member of the International Council of Voluntary Agencies, which intervenes with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The CCR has also participated in the Puebla Process (or the Regional Conference on Migration), a group established by governments in the Americas that includes NGOs. The LDL is a member of the International Federation for Human Rights, and one of its representatives sits on the federation’s board of administration. This federation comprises 142 organizations from around the world that advocate human rights.

Some NGOs have links with United Nations organizations, such as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the Special Rapporteur on Migrant Workers, the UN Development Programme, the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the Special Rapporteur of the Committee on Human Rights, which addresses contemporary forms of racism, among other things. Some have even acquired their status as intervenors before the UN Economic and Social Council. In the Americas, although only the Canadian Council for Refugees has developed formal relations with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, other organizations have shown an increasing interest in the Organization of American States (OAS).

The amount of time devoted to transnational activities by NGOs is dependent on their material resources and can vary considerably, ranging from 10 to more than 50 percent of all activities. Since 2001 the Arab Canadian Federation has placed increasing emphasis on transnational activities. Today, it regards civil and political freedom as the target of unprecedented attacks within Canada and around the world. None of the associations in our study is active solely on the international scene, even though overall there is an awareness of the interdependence between social problems and the growing influence of international standards on lobbying activities in Canada and Quebec.

Heterogeneous Motivations
for Transnational Activism

As shown in the previous section, the ways of participating in transnational networks are far from uniform. Similarly, organizations’ motives for engaging in such activities are many. They follow, in great part, from the mission specific to each group. When the raison d’être of some, such as Alternatives, is to act on the international scene, networking gains a particular importance.

Overall, the reasons put forward to justify transnational action relate to its role in promoting national heritages, international solidarity, activist visibility, and minority rights; its influence on decisions that establish international standards, such as those made by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees; and its effectiveness in pressuring states to respect international standards, in helping to define the political and social stakes that result from globalization, and in implementing political action networks in countries of origin. Transnational activism also aims to draw lessons from experiments carried out elsewhere in order to widen the range of local actions.

The cases defended by some associations unavoidably lead them to the international scene. For example, both the CCR and the LDL are concerned with refugee and immigrant rights and have no other choice but to be present on the international scene. In the same vein, a BYIA representative, who is concerned with the rights of people of African descent, offers the following argument: “What we are looking at is really to put pressure on different parties, governmental, financial organizations or corporations ... like the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, to make sure that their actions take into account the needs and interests of the black populations across the Americas.”

The goal of some organizations is to influence the politics in their countries of origin. The CTC is a good example of this dynamic. The group has sent missions to observe the elections in Togo and has participated in an activity called “Meeting on the conditions of a pacifist and responsible political changeover,” a political activity that focused on democracy and human rights in Togo. Moreover, the group has directly supported some NGOs working on site, like the Togolese League for Human Rights or other national organizations dedicated to training and awareness through workers’ unions. This same group also supports Togolese diasporic networks.

Finally, for other associations, the sense of belonging to the country of origin is central to their commitment at the international level. As a representative from the Canadian Arab Federation explains:

the Arab community in Canada is experiencing a dilemma, or at least a particular situation, because it is diversified. People come from different Arab countries and immigrate to Canada for social, economic, political and security reasons etc., to start their life all over again. But they are always confronted with the reactions to the situations that prevail in their country of origin. For example, a Palestinian who comes to Canada to study and raise a family cannot disconnect from what is happening in his country when people there are slaughtered ... That is where the dilemma arises of having to look at the situation as a Canadian. That is the message we are trying to promote, to be respectful of our Constitution here, our values here, our Charter of Rights whether at the provincial, federal level, etc. We must not be indifferent when situations relating to abuses of human rights take place in our country of origin. (Our translation)

Clearly, the reasons that transnational networks put forward to justify their participation depend largely on the raison d’être of each association.

Network building also takes place at the local level to ensure that governments or political authorities address claims likely to be influenced by international norms and standards. For example, the Table de concertation des organismes au service des personnes immigrantes et des réfugiés brings together NGOs and representatives both of Citizenship and Immigration Canada and of the ministère des Relations avec les citoyens et de l’Immigration du Québec. These associations often rely on international texts to formulate their demands. Through their participation, they come together to present a shared position to governments (who participate as observers), giving more weight to their claims than if each association pressed for its own position alone. In short, the main reason mentioned for networking is that it offers a more solid position for claims presented by associations, often allowing for easier gains.

Instrumentalizing Transnationalism

Tranasnational activism does not change the nature of the claims advanced; rather, it changes the way things are done and the discourses used to support claims. International standards and rights are put forward -- for example, by CONACOH, BYIA, and the LDL -- to gauge the actions of public authorities and to pressure them to pursue their commitments. Some NGOs have willingly appealed to international forums to embarrass the Canadian government. During their Head Tax Redress campaign, organizations representing Canadian citizens of Chinese origin have used these forums to force the government to adopt a reparation policy. Thus the Chinese Canadian National Council went to Durban with the goal of putting pressure on the Canadian government (Li 2004).

The existence of international standards, and more widely of international law, is a source of inspiration for action and contributes to enrolment in transnational networks. When putting forward claims, the majority of leaders refer to international texts or to instruments dealing with human rights, migrant or refugee rights, and racism, such as charters, conventions, covenants, United Nations documents, and documents prepared by the Quebec or Canadian governments for their participation in conferences at the United Nations (e.g., Durban). CONACOH, CRARR, and BYIA refer to international standards to push their claims forward, either by appealing to tribunals or by pressuring Canadian political authorities. A CONACOH representative specifically mentioned using texts by the Council of Europe, referring to the standards set out in the jurisprudence. A spokesperson for CRARR gave the example of migrant workers’ rights, particularly the rights of female domestics coming from Southern countries:

According to labour standards in Quebec, temporary workers, those who are referred to as migrant workers in international law, are not protected ... We will launch a constitutional court challenge against this restriction because certain classes of professionals are allowed to travel between the United States and Canada, but certain classes of workers are restricted from travelling. We will add the “race” dimension to demonstrate that this type of restriction has a discriminatory impact on certain classes or racialized minorities. If we look at who forms domestic personnel, mainly black and Asian women, it has a discriminatory impact; it is a form of indirect racism, if not direct, depending on the explicit or implicit nature of this type of exclusion. (Our translation)

The CCR turns to international standards to ensure that refugees’ rights are respected: “We studied all relevant texts to try to see which international standards in terms of detention could or should be applied in cases where people are detained according to Immigration Law” (our translation).

Many spokespersons claimed that the globalization process has encouraged recognition of the interdependence of social problems and the law. Associations also recognized the importance of international law, using it as leverage and to establish the perimeter of their domestic action. Their initiatives are partially conditioned by standards developed within international organizations and by the necessity to promote them within their own national spaces. The transnationalization of activities is partly determined by the extent to which states respect these standards, which emanate from the UN and the OAS, among other oranizations. In short, claims are now evaluated according to international law and conventions. As the leader of BYIA noted:

Just the document coming out of the World Conference, because Canada was a signatory and participating in the deliberations, we are definitely going to use that to advance our claims and put pressure [on the government]. We will say: “Listen. These are what you agreed to do.” And also, the Canadian preparations for the World Conference, which were signed by Canada ... some of these documents formulated certain position statements. We will remind them: “This is what you said! So these are the types of commitment that you have to respect.” So in that sense it is really the World Conference in itself that is really going to help us move to get us a greater credibility to our actions.

Some NGOs provide each other support and form ad hoc coalitions. For example, the National Congress of Black Women has seen its claims taken up by the Fédération des femmes du Québec at the World March of Women (De Sève and Maillé 2004). B’nai Brith has had various meetings with a coalition of black communities in Quebec and, during the Gulf War, with Muslim associations. A spokesperson for B’nai Brith says: “The next question could be why we don’t have one [a coalition with Muslim associations] now, and that’s an important question ... And the answer to the question is that when we’re satisfied that Muslim leadership is speaking out against anti-Semitic outrages and that they will denounce terrorism, especially here in Canada, that will be the time that we would be prepared to meet again.”

The impact of NGOs on Canadian public policies is extremely uneven. The minority-community structure is very hierarchical and, in some cases, conflicting, and it is dependent on a range of interests. Strong differences exist between community associations in terms of their financial resources and their power to lobby the Quebec and Canadian governments. Yet the influence of some Quebec NGOs on the international scene must be mentioned. For example, the LDL has played a prominent role in Quebec in the case of Native people’s rights. The work it does has been taken up by the International Federation of Human Rights and other transnational NGOs. Their spokesperson explains:

Historically, the LDL has played a pioneering role in regards to the recognition of Native rights ... It has become involved several times over almost twenty years on the Native rights question and has added to the agenda the fight against racism toward Natives. The league has also played a key role in raising awareness within the International Federation of the importance of the Native problem. In fact, in the past ten years, each time the International Federation has intervened [e.g., in the UN’s Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples], it has always asked the LDL to be its representative at the working committee on this issue. Moreover, a few years ago, the International Federation created a Native Affairs Delegate position, and a former president of the Ligue des droits et libertés du Québec is filling it. (Our translation)

The Arab Canadian Human Rights Organization feels that it has contributed to raising awareness within Amnesty International and various Arab governments regarding political prisoners. Even though CONACOH is only at the beginning of its international commitment, its representative mentioned the organization’s contribution to the “World Conference against Racism” in Durban. He noted that its lobbying efforts in collaboration with the Association multiethnique pour l’intégration des personnes handicapées du Québec contributed to the inclusion of people with a handicap in the preamble of the document adopted by the UN during the conference. A BYIA representative stated that organizations like his, which have been active for a longer time, have had important successes on the question of racism particular to black communities, a theme that inspires the activist discourse of this association: “Black organizations in America have been quite successful influencing the Inter-American Human Rights Commission and the Inter-American Development Bank ... both have incorporated antiblack racism into its discourse and created specific programs just to deal with that. In that sense ... it has been effective.”

If the proliferation of international law since the end of the Second World War has appreciably modified the range of action of certain groups, the political situation in the country of origin has greatly influenced others. It is important to stress that the deepening of racist attitudes and practices toward Arab populations since 11 September 2001 has strongly driven them to reinforce or develop their links with similar organizations in North America and Europe.

We must recall that international action can target goals that are specifically national. Governments do not like to project a negative image abroad. International instruments, which must be respected by signatory countries, are an important tool in the action strategies adopted by NGOs. Not only are they used to influence Quebec and Canadian public policies, but they also shape and define transnational networks. Overall, the developmental scope of these networks is difficult to measure. However, their impact takes various forms, such as increased information sharing, the fine-tuning and harmonization of claims, changes in terminology, and contributions to some texts that define international standards.

In short, international commitment helps to modify both the mobilization strategies and the discourses used to advance claims at the local and national levels. In this sense, the inclusion of international standards via transnational practices represents an additional tool in the arsenal to which groups have access.

Conclusion:
Toward Transnational, Postnational,
or Global Citizenship?

Colonialism, conquest, slavery, sexism, and racism are the outcomes of a universalist ideology that has governed the formation of the world system since the sixteenth century (Wallerstein 1990). These historical phenomena, linked to international economic and state division, have generated systematic inequality and discrimination that endures in contemporary economic structures and public spaces. Inequality and discrimination remain the real reasons for international action by Aboriginal peoples, women, and racialized minorities and the organizations that represent them in Quebec and Canada, the Caribbean, the Americas, and elsewhere.

At the same time, associations and NGOs are seeking to deepen their understanding of how neoliberal globalization affects the social groups that they defend. Of particular interest is the impact of supranational institutions such as the World Bank and the World Trade Organization and the consequences of regional and international trade agreements. Many associations are concerned with negotiations related to the Free-trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), which provide significant opportunities for mobilization as well as for collaboration between various organizations.

How does transnational activity change the parameters of citizenship in Quebec and Canada? Questioned on the relevance of transnational, postnational, or global citizenship and on the establishment of a “global civil society,” leaders adopted a clearly critical position. In fact, not one spokesperson was inclined to endorse these, and none saw them as being adequate or significant.

The idea of civil society itself is questioned, as seen in the testimony of a spokesperson for the Centre d’études arabes pour le développement (CÉAD): “Civil society -- what is it exactly? Chambers of Commerce and universities are included in it. It dilutes the notions of popular movements, of community movements, of citizen action movements ... What is the common denominator; what is the common project? Is there a civil-society movement ? So why trouble myself with a nonoperative concept when people who have the same preoccupation as me, the concern of citizenship, equality, social justice, the rights of the person ... can be found under another name ?” (our translation).

A widely shared perspective suggests that it is impossible to talk about “global citizenship” if “local” problems are not taken into consideration. It is argued that “global citizenship is a vague concept. It cannot apply until we have addressed disparities between States” (Chinese Family Services of Greater Montreal, interview). Further, it has been said: “International citizenship, talk about that to a guy from Burkina Faso [or any other Third World country] ... He’ll tell you: give me food first, it isn’t time to talk about that” (Association of Islamic Charitable Projects, interview). The leader of BYIA similarly commented:

People in the West may feel as global citizens, but this is not a reality for most individuals around the world ... Because of our location within the process of globalization, because of the amount of resources that are available to us, because of the facility we have of travelling ... we can feel we are global citizens. But for the average person, say living in downtown Port-au-Prince, where there are hardly no resources for them ... a sense of being part of the citizens of the world is not really relevant. So ... I think that [the concept of global citizenship] is really kind of parochial, almost ethnocentric.

A spokesperson for Carrefour de liaison et d’aide multiethnique reacted very strongly when the idea of planetary, or world, citizenship was brought up :

Are we Canadian citizens? Are we Quebec citizens? This already is an obstacle for thinking beyond here. We are Canadian citizens because we have a Canadian passport ... but in Quebec ... we sort of have a different identity because of language, culture, or different ways of seeing things. We are different. When I talk about difference, we can feel it when we meet Ontarians: we face two different worlds, and that’s where we discover our difference. Ontario is an hour and a half from here, and it makes us wonder how we will position ourselves on the international level talking about nationality or citizenship ... Let’s fix our problems here first, and then we can see. (Our translation)

Our study demonstrates that the approach to implementing transnational networks is both pragmatic and instrumental, the aim being, first and foremost, to modify public policies of the Canadian and Quebec governments. By turning to international rights and standards, NGOs seek to put pressure on various government bodies in Canada and Quebec. In this sense, their participation in transnational networks does not imply a focus essentially on international actions; rather, their core purpose remains national.

From this perspective, discussions about transnational, postnational, or global citizenship are regarded as “vague,” “utopic,” or “ambiguous” by the association leaders whom we interviewed. We can certainly present ourselves as “world citizens” on the basis that transnational networks produce a planetary conscience regarding shared stakes and the necessity to act globally. Yet, for most of the leaders interviewed, the concept of transnational, postnational, or global citizenship does not correspond to reality and thus remains superfluous.

As far as identity is concerned, according to the leaders with whom we spoke, the notion of citizenship is always bounded by one or several defined territories. Moreover, from the perspective of a racialized and ethnic group, the question of belonging becomes possible when obstacles to integration are removed. From this perspective, the importance of developing a sense of belonging to Canada and/or Quebec is given precedence over the vague notion of global citizenship. In fact, several associations work closely with the Canadian government on questions related to citizenship and immigration. After all, the general meaning of citizenship still refers to the rights that are supposed to be included in citizenship and to the exercise of these rights in a defined political community.

The concept of citizenship, even when referring to a set of rights, is quite broadly defined, inasmuch as it is not limited to the status of “Canadian citizen.” It goes beyond legal and administrative issues, as it also refers to one’s ability to participate in Quebec society (Labelle and Salée 1999; Labelle 2005) and to take part in social movements that defend the rights of minorities. In short, citizenship involves the recognition of everyone’s contribution to society. Not being endowed with the legal status provided by Canadian citizenship should not prevent citizen participation in the political community.

As far as community intervention is concerned, we stress the importance of resolving problems that appear on the local and national scene. This focus probably results from the fact that the social actors whom we met initiate actions against multiple types of discrimination that affect racialized minorities in Quebec and Canada. In this respect, the use of transnational networks is undeniably filtered by their immediate concerns. Moreover, the concept of citizenship is problematic at the national level. Feelings of exclusion, rampant racism, systemic discrimination, and the problem of uneven social mobility indicate that the conditions for living together have not yet been met within the national context, making talk of broadening citizenship even more utopic. As the spokesperson for the Table de concertation des organismes latino-américains du Québec remarked: “We have to understand that not everybody is a citizen, even in their own country” (our translation).

Combined with the question of democratic practices, citizenship takes on a different meaning. Because more and more structural decisions are made within international organizations, the political processes lack transparency, treaties are written in a language that is understood by only a few experts, and the capacity to influence various states is asymmetric. Many representatives have stressed the importance both of a greater mobilization of actors and social movements within national spaces and of a better understanding of the stakes raised by neoliberal globalization. Moreover, the dominance of the United States on the world scene becomes a problem in the establishment of a “world citizenship” that transcends national spaces.

In sum, the announcement of the death of the nation-state is somewhat premature. Even though the capacity of states to intervene has been eroded by the implementation of supranational political structures, even though state sovereignty is not absolute because of the application of international legal standards, and even though the logic of the market seems to have been forcefully imposed to the detriment of political concerns, the nation-state is still the first area of identification and intervention for social movements. Far from claiming that a new identity has emerged based on postnational belonging, we emphasize the importance among social actors of focusing on practices that are national in aim, as has traditionally been done. Of course, the globalization phenomenon is real, but it does not undermine the fact that the nation-state and local spaces remain an important focus for these groups. Globalization adds real constraints, but it also generates new courses of action.

Acknowledgments

This text is an abridged version of a chapter from Labelle and Rocher 2004. We wish to thank the Presses de l’Université du Québec for authorizing the chapter’s translation and republication as well as Wayne Saunders for translating the original.

Note

1. These are the twenty associations from which interview subjects were drawn:

Alternatives

Arab Canadian Human Rights Organization

Association des Chiliens du Québec

Association of Islamic Charitable Projects (AICP)

Black Coalition of Quebec

Black Youth in Action (BYIA)

B’nai Brith

Canadian Arab Federation

Canadian Council for Refugees (CCR)

Canadian Hispanic Congress

Canadian Togolese Community (CTC)

Carrefour de liaison et d’aide multiethnique (CLAM)

Centre d’études arabes pour le développement (CEAD)

Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations (CRARR)

Chinese Family Services of Greater Montreal

Communauté vietnamienne au Canada

Congress of Black Women

Conseil national des citoyens et citoyennes d’origine haïtienne (CONACOH)

Ligue des droits et libertés (LDL)

Table de concertation des organismes latino-américains du Québec