PhD Oral Exam - Audrey Gagnon, Political Science

When studying for a doctoral degree (PhD), candidates submit a thesis that provides a critical review of the current state of knowledge of the thesis subject as well as the student’s own contributions to the subject. The distinguishing criterion of doctoral graduate research is a significant and original contribution to knowledge.

Once accepted, the candidate presents the thesis orally. This oral exam is open to the public.

Abstract

Public debates about immigration and ethnocultural diversity have intensified in many liberal democracies, highlighting a cleavage between perceptions that immigrants constitute a resource or a threat to the host society. An argument that has gained attention in recent years and that deepens our understanding of these two contrasting worldviews is that individuals’ conception of national identity influences their opinions about these issues. The most well-known ideal types to capture conceptions of national identity are to be found in the civic-ethnic dichotomy; while the former emphasizes inclusive criteria such as citizenship and respect of laws and institutions and is associated with positive opinions about immigration and diversity, the later emphasizes more exclusive criteria such as ancestry and religion and is associated with negative opinions. Though the relationship between national identity and immigration and diversity has been extensively studied, the mechanism behind such relationship is still unclear. Moreover, in recent years, public debates about immigration and diversity have become increasingly framed in terms of cultural identities. To account for the salience of concerns about immigration threatening the national culture, language and values, scholars have proposed a cultural conception of national identity. The relationship between the cultural conception of national identity and immigration and diversity remains, however, contested.

My study explores the relationship between the civic, ethnic and cultural conceptions of national identity and immigration and ethnocultural diversity in the context of Quebec (Canada) by looking at two cases study: Quebecers from the mass public and sympathizers of the identity group La Meute. The comparison between mainstream and more radical actors allows to consider multiple opinions about immigration and diversity, while highlighting the (dis)similar mechanisms informing them. My research shows that the civic and ethnic conceptions of national identity are respectively related to positive and negative opinions about immigration and diversity. I maintain that this relationship hinges on a mechanism of evaluation whereby one evaluates if immigrants and ethnocultural minorities conform to different markers of identity. My research shows, however, that the civic-ethnic dichotomy neglects a significant part of the story; that is the salience of cultural markers of identity. It demonstrates that cultural conceptions of national identity are related to both positive and negative opinions about immigration and diversity. Indeed, the mechanism of evaluation inherent to the cultural conception of national identity is more flexible and involves assessing whether most immigrants adopt the national culture. Positive evaluations of cultural compliance are associated with positive opinions about immigration and diversity, while the opposite is true for negative evaluations. Finally, I maintain that the evaluation mechanism does not occur in a vacuum; it occurs in a context in which individuals are exposed to information reifying boundaries between ‘us’ and ‘them’, particularly mediatized information about immigration and diversity. My research further explores the mechanism of evaluation by analyzing the ways individuals endorsing different conceptions of national identity process and build on mediatized information about immigration-related issues to evaluate (perceived) similarities or differences between ‘us’ and ‘them’. This is especially the case for individuals endorsing a cultural conception of national identity; they tend to use news media as a tool for evaluating whether most immigrants adopt the national culture. In contrast, some individuals endorsing more exclusive conceptions of national identity (i.e. sympathizers of La Meute) feel alienated by news media’s representation of immigration-related issues and thus seek meaning by selectively exposing themselves to far-right content on social media, thereby confirming pre-existing concerns about immigration and diversity and encountering (radical) narratives for thinking about these issues.