Class, Nation and the Parti Quebecois

Abstract

The election of a Parti Quebecois government has revived debate on the relationship between class structure, political parties and the national question. Recently, in an attempt to elucidate the complexity of the social and national dynamics, several studies have isolated one of the above realities, particularly the class nature of the PQ, and the permanence of the Quebec national question vis-avis the Canadian state. These are fundamental concerns for the labour movement at the present time, and affect both the form of organizations and the effectiveness of nationalist discourse among the popular masses.