tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/francophone-20344/articlesFrancophone – The Conversation2024-03-12T17:21:46Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2254262024-03-12T17:21:46Z2024-03-12T17:21:46ZBrian Mulroney should be recognized for increasing the impact of the Francophonie<p>The <a href="https://www.francophonie.org/francophonie-brief-1763">Organisation internationale de la Francophonie</a>, commonly known as the Francophonie, represents French-speaking countries and regions worldwide.</p>
<p>Despite <a href="http://democracyinafrica.org/the-irony-of-la-francophonie/">enduring criticism</a> about its bureaucratic nature, the Francophonie’s origins date back to the establishment of the <a href="https://www.francophonie.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/acct-textes-fondamentaux-1970-convention-et-charte-3.pdf">first multilateral francophone agency</a> in Niger in March 1970 and was born of <a href="https://doi.org/10.16993/bau">political debate and consensus</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/francophonie">The Francophonie</a>,
which celebrates the 26th anniversary of international <a href="https://nationaltoday.com/french-language-day/">French Language Day</a> on March 20, was originally meant to limit itself to a role of cultural and linguistic promotion and avoid any diplomatic conflict.</p>
<p>Following <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/de-gaulle-and-vive-le-quebec-libre-feature">Gen. Charles de Gaulle’s outspoken statements</a> on a free Québec in 1967, Pierre Trudeau’s government was hostile to the presence of an autonomous Québec delegation at the <a href="https://doi.org/10.7202/700449ar">Francophonie’s international meetings</a>. </p>
<p>Although French centrist President Giscard d’Estaing was committed to a <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2706175">rapprochement with Canada</a>, diplomatic relations between France, the Francophonie and the Canadian government remained frosty — until the late Brian Mulroney became prime minister.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/brian-mulroney-champion-of-free-trade-brought-canada-closer-to-the-u-s-during-his-reign-as-prime-minister-224852">Brian Mulroney, champion of free trade, brought Canada closer to the U.S. during his reign as prime minister</a>
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<h2>A political transition in France and Canada</h2>
<p>When François Mitterrand came to power in France in 1981, the aim was to give the Francophonie a more assertive geopolitical role.</p>
<p>In Canada, <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/brian-mulroney">Brian Mulroney</a> won the Progressive Conservative Party leadership and became a federal MP after winning a byelection <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1752180376">in Nova Scotia</a> in 1983. A year later, he became prime minister in a <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/archives/brian-mulroney-wins-stunning-landslide-victory-in-1984-1.4675926">landslide victory.</a></p>
<p>Mulroney’s roots in Baie Comeau and his acknowledgement of Québec’s distinctiveness set the stage for improved relations between Canada, Québec and France. His tenure as prime minister marked a pivotal shift in Canada’s approach to the Francophonie and its relations with France. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/118546/memoirs-by-brian-mulroney/9780771064852">His 2007 book, <em>Memoirs</em></a>, also revealed <a href="https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,964623,00.html">his respect for Mitterrand</a>, who wanted to undo some of the damage De Gaulle caused to France-Canada relations. He also discussed his intent to brush aside Trudeau’s legacy of choosing a strategy of confrontation between Canada and Québec. </p>
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<p>Mitterrand sent his prime minister, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Laurent-Fabius">Laurent Fabius</a>, to Canada in November 1984 to strengthen ties between the two countries.</p>
<p>Fabius began by sweeping aside the Gaullist legacy with a “<a href="https://www.lapresse.ca/debats/votre-opinion/la-presse/200810/18/01-30599-de-versailles-a-quebec.php">Vive le Canada!</a>” This approach was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1987/05/28/world/mitterrand-closing-a-wound-in-canada.html">used again</a> by Mitterrand to restore balance to France-Canada relations.</p>
<h2>The Versailles summit</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/francophonie">The first Francophonie summit took place in Versailles in 1986</a> and Canada played a significant role. The organization had been careful in the 1970s to avoid causing further tensions between Québec and Canada, but the election of Mulroney was a clear signal to move forward with the multilateral organization. </p>
<p>For Mulroney, Canada’s participation in the first Francophonie summit symbolized global recognition of the country’s multiculturalism. This is why he made sure to convince the <a href="https://www.moyak.com/papers/history-francophonie.html">provinces of Québec and New Brunswick</a> to attend the summit.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/brian-mulroney-baie-comeau-quebec-friendship-1.7131887">Lucien Bouchard</a>, Canada’s ambassador to France at the time, was active behind the scenes of the first summit in an effort to bring France and Canada closer together. In <em>Memoirs</em>, Mulroney paid tribute to Bouchard’s hard work <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/lucien-bouchard">in preparing for the summit</a>.</p>
<p>Many experts believe <a href="https://doi.org/10.17045/sthlmuni.12993554.v1">the Versailles summit</a> strengthened the geopolitical impact of the Francophonie’s institutions.</p>
<p>The heads of state and government who gathered in Versailles in 1986 accepted Mulroney’s proposal to host a <a href="https://nationalnewswatch.com/2021/08/31/today-in-canadas-political-history-pm-mulroney-presides-as-quebec-city-hosts-worlds-second-francophonie-summit">second summit in Québec</a>. For Mulroney, it was only natural that Québec should have a prominent role in the francophone world. </p>
<h2>The Québec City summit</h2>
<p>The second Francophonie summit in 1987 in Québec City also presented an opportunity to build closer ties between the province and the rest of Canada. </p>
<p>Mulroney fostered friendly relations with <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/robert-bourassa">Robert Bourassa</a> when he was premier of Québec although he made clear that even if the province of Québec had close links to francophone nations, only the Canadian prime minister could speak on behalf of Canada during Francophonie summits.</p>
<p>The year 1987 was, in fact, significant in terms of Mulroney’s international leadership. He also hosted the 1987 Commonwealth Summit <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00358538808453848">in Vancouver</a>, where he used his diplomatic skills to further condemn the apartheid regime of <a href="https://theconversation.com/brian-mulroneys-tough-stand-against-apartheid-is-one-of-his-most-important-legacies-224915">South Africa</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/brian-mulroneys-tough-stand-against-apartheid-is-one-of-his-most-important-legacies-224915">Brian Mulroney's tough stand against apartheid is one of his most important legacies</a>
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<p>For Mulroney, both the Francophonie and the Commonwealth <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-under-brian-mulroney-canada-punched-above-its-weight-on-the-world/">were arenas</a> that could easily serve to convey strong diplomatic messages to the world.</p>
<p>As Mulroney prepared for the Québec City Francophonie summit, the <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/meech-lake-accord">Meech Lake Accord</a> recognized the province as a <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/quebec-as-a-distinct-society">distinct society</a>. While the agreement ultimately never took effect, it revealed Mulroney’s commitment to reconciliation between French and English Canada.</p>
<p>Recognizing Québec’s distinctiveness and taking an active role in the institutions of the Francophonie were, in fact, part of the same Mulroney agenda.</p>
<h2>Proud Canadian and Francophile</h2>
<p>In subsequent Francophonie summits, Canada’s declarations were often adopted by the other francophone nations. That included a call to erase a <a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1989/05/26/le-sommet-francophone-de-dakar-m-francois-mitterrand-annonce-l-annulation-de-la-dette-publique-de-trente-cinq-pays-pauvres_4147210_1819218.html">portion of the public debt of African members of the Francophonie</a> at the Dakar summit in 1989.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/jean-marc-leger">Jean-Marc Léger</a>, a former journalist and the first general secretary of the Francophonie’s Agency for Cultural and Technical Cooperation, is rightly regarded as one of the architects of the creation of the Francophonie, alongside <a href="https://doi.org/10.17045/sthlmuni.12942311.v1">its founders</a> <a href="https://shs.hal.science/halshs-02973186">Léopold Sédar Senghor</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hamani-Diori">Hamani Diori</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Norodom-Sihanouk">Prince Norodom Sihanouk</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Habib-Bourguiba">Habib Bourguiba</a>. </p>
<p>Mulroney should undoubtedly be added to this list. The late prime minister was among them in transforming the organization into the substantive geopolitical entity that it is today.</p>
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<p><em>This is a corrected version of a story originally published on March 12, 2024. The earlier story incorrectly stated the Francophonie was celebrating its 26th anniversary on March 20, 2024. In fact, the Francophonie is celebrating the 26th anniversary of international French Language Day.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225426/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christophe Premat received funding from the Nordic and Baltic Cooperation with the educational grant Nordplus for the years 2020-2022. With the help of this grant, he created an introductory online course on Canadian Studies.</span></em></p>As we celebrate the 26th International Day of La Francophonie, the most fitting tribute would be to remember the involvement of the late Brian Mulroney.Christophe Premat, Associate Professor in French Studies (cultural studies), head of the Centre for Canadian Studies, Stockholm UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1957952022-12-06T18:33:14Z2022-12-06T18:33:14ZEnglish only? The Emergencies Act inquiry showed Canada’s hostility towards francophones<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498744/original/file-20221202-26-bw5skl.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C21%2C7303%2C4112&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Despite being French-speaking, CSIS Deputy Director of Operations Michelle Tessier, Director David Vigneault and Integrated Terrorism Assessment Centre Executive Director Marie-Hélène Chayer testified in English only before the Rouleau Commission in November 2022 in Ottawa.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://publicorderemergencycommission.ca/">The Public Order Emergency Commission</a>, which examined the federal government’s decision to declare a state of emergency during the occupation of the so-called freedom convoy in Ottawa, is bringing into the light debates over how bilingual Canada really is.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2022/11/21/commission-sur-letat-durgence-le-francais-en-prend-un-coup-une-fois-de-plus">French-language media</a> lamented the surprising absence of French during the recent proceedings. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.ledevoir.com/politique/canada/772157/commission-sur-l-etat-d-urgence-trudeau-promet-de-faire-des-efforts-en-temoignant-en-francais">In response, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised he would speak French</a> during his testimony — which he did <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-testifies-public-order-emergency-commission-1.6664962">for a total of 10 minutes during the five hours of his testimony</a>).</p>
<p>Although the proceedings were established in French and English by an Order in Council and, as a national inquiry, are bound by the <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/o-3.01/">Official Languages Act</a>, they were conducted almost exclusively in English. Indeed, of the more than 75 witnesses who testified, only one spoke entirely in French.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498054/original/file-20221129-12-git4lo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498054/original/file-20221129-12-git4lo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498054/original/file-20221129-12-git4lo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498054/original/file-20221129-12-git4lo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498054/original/file-20221129-12-git4lo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498054/original/file-20221129-12-git4lo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498054/original/file-20221129-12-git4lo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc testifies before the Commission on the State of Emergency in Ottawa in November 2022. The Acadian chose to testify in English only.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld</span></span>
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<p>Many francophone witnesses, such as proud Acadian Dominic LeBlanc, chose to testify in English. </p>
<p>As a discrimination researcher, I am interested in the power structures that prevent members of minority groups from asserting their rights. I seek to provide insight into the reasons for the absence of French at the commission hearings.</p>
<h2>A bilingual judge</h2>
<p>On the face of it, one would have had every reason to expect the Public Order Emergency Commission to be welcoming to both official languages. Its commissioner, Franco-Ontarian Judge Paul Rouleau, has long been an advocate for minority language rights. He was instrumental in developing and overseeing the implementation of <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/tld-documents.llnassets.com/0030000/30791/access%20to%20justice%20in%20french.pdf">pioneering access to justice initiatives for francophones in Ontario</a>.</p>
<p>So it’s not surprising that Rouleau tried to set the tone for the commission by delivering an opening speech in both languages, noting that the proceedings would be accessible in both official languages and that witnesses were encouraged to testify in either French or English. </p>
<p>In fact, the Order in Council that created the commission gave it the mandate to <a href="https://commissionsurletatdurgence.ca/files/documents/Order-in-Council-De%CC%81cret-2022-0392.pdf">“ensure that … members of the public can communicate with and obtain available services from the Commissioner simultaneously in both official languages.”</a></p>
<h2>Anglonormativity</h2>
<p>Just as researchers have observed that appointing women to head an organization is not enough to eradicate gender discrimination, simply appointing a francophone to chair the Commission is not enough to counter anglonormativity, the powerful force that prevents francophones from feeling comfortable in their language. </p>
<p>Alexandre Baril, a professor and expert in feminist, trans and intersectional theories, defines this concept as a <a href="https://journals.msvu.ca/index.php/atlantis/article/view/4088/125-137%20PDF">“system of structures, institutions and beliefs that mark English as the norm.”</a> According to Baril, anglonormativity is the norm by which non-English speakers are judged, discriminated against and excluded.</p>
<p>One of the explanations as to why, despite Rouleau’s efforts, all but one of the francophones chose to testify in French is that the commission is only a window into other anglonormative worlds.</p>
<p>Many francophones may have chosen to speak English because they were testifying about events in their workplaces, such as the police or the federal public service, which are anglonormative.</p>
<p><a href="https://lop.parl.ca/sites/PublicWebsite/default/en_CA/ResearchPublications/201169F?">Several reports</a> published by the Commissioner of Official Languages paint a picture of a federal public service where French is often marginalized and where the organizational culture is unapologetically anglonormative. Even for the most ardent francophones, it may simply be easier to recount conversations that took place in English and to describe documents written in English, in English.</p>
<h2>Voluntary servitude or fear of contempt?</h2>
<p>Some commentators characterized the commission’s French-speaking witnesses who testified in English as being in <a href="https://www.journaldequebec.com/2022/11/28/lart-de-secraser">“voluntary servitude.”</a> Such statements amount to victim-blaming because they fail to take into account the obvious contempt and hostility that francophone participants faced and the impact that francophobia can have on the decision to assert one’s rights to speak Canada’s minority official language.</p>
<p>Take, for example, Mathieu Fleury. The former city councillor, a strong advocate for <a href="https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2022/10/26/francophonie-meets-francophobia-at-the-emergencies-act-inquiry.html">francophone rights at Ottawa City Hall</a>, chose to testify in English. </p>
<p>When he expressed difficulty answering a technical question because it was not in his mother tongue, a lawyer for the freedom convoy protesters mocked him. “Je m’appelle Brendan,” the lawyer said, in a derogatory manner causing the audience to laugh.</p>
<p>One wonders what the public’s — and the law society’s — reaction would have been if a lawyer, who has a special responsibility to uphold the values of equality protected by human rights legislation, had ridiculed a witness with a hearing impairment who spoke through an interpreter, or a witness who spoke about their religious beliefs.</p>
<p>Trudeau was also subject to brutal attacks by some English speakers on social media for speaking in French for 10 minutes. The choice was described as petty, irritating and a <a href="https://twitter.com/anneslevesque/status/1596497784693219329?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1596730386901786624%7Ctwgr%5E2a4999fdceb6181be3f1552745307862a8c6665d%7Ctwcon%5Es2_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftheconversation.com%2Fle-comble-de-langlo-normativite-les-francophones-parlant-anglais-a-la-commission-sur-letat-durgence-195275">“smoke screen to dissuade people from listening.”</a></p>
<p>There was, of course, nothing malicious about Trudeau’s decision to testify in French. He had the right to speak in the official language of his choice, a language in which he grew up and which is spoken by most of the constituents in the riding he represents. </p>
<p>As our country’s highest federal official, he also has an obligation to work proactively to enhance the vitality of official language minority communities in Canada.</p>
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<span class="caption">Prime Minister Justin Trudeau before the Commission on the State of Emergency in Ottawa on Nov. 25, 2022. He spoke in French for about 10 minutes out of more than five hours of testimony.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld</span></span>
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<h2>Francophobia: The last acceptable prejudice?</h2>
<p>The hostility that the two francophones faced for their choice of testimony language is a classic example of what feminists call a double bind.</p>
<p>Indeed, francophones who speak French in anglonormative contexts are often labelled as difficult or ascribed bad intentions. On the other hand, francophones who try to be accommodating and speak the language of the majority face ridicule when they are unable to speak or understand at the level of a native speaker. </p>
<p>In the eyes of francophobes, no choice made by a francophone is a good choice because, in the end, it is not the choices of francophones they deplore but francophones themselves.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, discriminatory statements against francophones who speak French are rarely denounced. Worse, most human rights laws across the country offer francophones no protection against discrimination based on their language.</p>
<p>Is francophobia, as Jean-Benoît Nadeau has written, the <a href="https://www.ledevoir.com/opinion/chroniques/467789/le-dernier-prejuge-acceptable">last acceptable prejudice</a>? </p>
<p>A recent front-page article in the <em>Toronto Star</em> <a href="https://www.thestar.com/business/2022/11/09/canadas-childrens-tylenol-shortage-is-getting-worse-and-bilingual-labels-are-part-of-the-problem.html">blamed the lack of children’s medication on bilingual labelling requirements</a>. </p>
<p>The headline turned out to be false. Yet even if it had been true, it is disappointing that a national newspaper would choose to blame a minority for the problem rather than the failure of governments to put in place a system that meets the necessary regulatory requirements to protect them.</p>
<p>With strong language rights protection, francophones are certainly privileged compared to other minorities and Indigenous Peoples in Canada. However, this unique protection may also expose francophones to particular forms of discrimination and contempt.</p>
<p>Rights should be a matter of levelling up rather than levelling down. Francophones should not be discriminated against for asserting their right to speak the official language of their choice.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/195795/count.gif" alt="La Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anne Levesque ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>The almost complete absence of French at the Public Order Emergency Commission does not come from a subservient reflex on the part of French speakers so much as their fear of being scorned.Anne Levesque, Assistant professor, Faculty of Law, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1817642022-04-27T17:35:17Z2022-04-27T17:35:17ZNew Brunswick’s ruling that the lieutenant governor must be bilingual needs to be appealed, but not for the reasons you think<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459835/original/file-20220426-2677-mlixrh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=34%2C0%2C5708%2C3771&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Brenda Murphy is the 32nd lieutenant governor of New Brunswick. She was appointed Sept. 8, 2019.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Stephen MacGillivray</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/new-brunswick-s-ruling-that-the-lieutenant-governor-must-be-bilingual-needs-to-be-appealed--but-not-for-the-reasons-you-think" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Earlier this month, New Brunswick’s <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/new-brunswick-lieutenant-governor-brenda-murphy-1.6420040">Court of Queen’s Bench ruled</a> that the province’s lieutenant governor must be bilingual. The ruling brought to an end an <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/sanb-legal-unilingual-lieutenant-governor-1.5406601">18-month legal challenge</a> launched by the Société de l'Acadie (SANB) over the appointment of the Honourable Brenda Murphy. </p>
<p>Because Murphy is not functionally bilingual, the SANB argued that the appointment violated <a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/rfc-dlc/ccrf-ccdl/rfcp-cdlp.html#s6">official language rights</a>, specifically sections <a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/rfc-dlc/ccrf-ccdl/check/art16.html">16, 16.1</a>, <a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/rfc-dlc/ccrf-ccdl/check/art18.html">18</a> and <a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/rfc-dlc/ccrf-ccdl/check/art20.html">20</a> — all protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. New Brunswick is the only bilingual province where English and French are official languages.</p>
<p>Though the court’s conclusion is laudable (and I agree with it completely), the process by which it reached that conclusion is deeply flawed. The federal government must appeal this ruling — not because it disagrees with it, but because such a consequential decision requires greater appreciation of the Crown and its constitutional nuances.</p>
<h2>An illogical court ruling</h2>
<p>We need to separate the ruling’s conclusion from the logic it took to arrive there because the logic is highly problematic and the ruling is <a href="https://lagassep.com/2022/04/14/bilingualism-the-charter-and-the-lieutenant-governor-of-new-brunswick/">constitutionally incoherent</a>. It demonstrates a poor understanding of who or what the Crown is in Canada. </p>
<p>The ruling conveniently avoids using one part of the constitution (the Charter) to invalidate another (<a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/const/fulltext.html">Section 58 of the Constitution Act 1867</a>), raising questions about the case’s <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/justiciability">justiciability</a>. </p>
<p>Legal scholar Kerri Froc describes it as an “<a href="https://twitter.com/KerriFroc/status/1514667265010147334">unreasonable interpretation</a>” of the Charter and a “<a href="https://twitter.com/KerriFroc/status/1514667268214759424">massive overstep on the separation of powers</a>.” Political scientist Stéphanie Chouinard <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/8772492/trudeau-feds-align-n-b-lieutenant-governor-ruling/">notes that the ruling</a> poses “new questions on law that have far-reaching consequences beyond language rights.”</p>
<p>The ruling’s logic is also odd because it focuses primarily on access to service delivery from the lieutenant governor through their legislative roles and interactions with the public. While important, they are not essential to <a href="https://www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/lgnb/ltgov/role.html">the constitutional purpose of the lieutenant governor</a> and can be remedied. </p>
<p>For example, if the lieutenant governor’s capacity to deliver a throne speech in both languages is a problem, New Brunswick could follow Québec’s lead and do away with having their lieutenant governor <a href="http://www.assnat.qc.ca/fr/patrimoine/lexique/discours-d-ouverture.html">pronounce the government’s legislative agenda</a>. </p>
<p>If the concern is the lieutenant governor’s ability to understand both language versions of a bill before <a href="https://www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/lgnb/faq.html">granting Royal Assent</a>, New Brunswick could adopt <a href="https://sencanada.ca/en/about/procedural-references/notes/n6">Ottawa’s approach</a> and delegate these duties to representatives of the lieutenant governor. </p>
<p>The lieutenant governor’s ability to interact with members of the public in both languages is also not a constitutional requirement of the job. It is a vanity to justify the public expense of the position. The courts should know better than to conflate the two. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The New Brunswick flag waves in the blue sky" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459840/original/file-20220426-20-otrlhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459840/original/file-20220426-20-otrlhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459840/original/file-20220426-20-otrlhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459840/original/file-20220426-20-otrlhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459840/original/file-20220426-20-otrlhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459840/original/file-20220426-20-otrlhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459840/original/file-20220426-20-otrlhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">New Brunswick is the only official bilingual province in Canada.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>An extraordinary conclusion</h2>
<p>The court’s conclusion is a fascinating one: that for the equality of New Brunswick’s settler linguistic communities to be realized, the position of lieutenant governor must be bilingual. Therefore, the position’s officeholder must also be — making New Brunswick’s lieutenant governor the only individual in provincial office bound by the province’s constitutional official language obligations. </p>
<p>In other words, New Brunswick’s Crown and thereby its lieutenant governor is distinct from others in Canada.</p>
<p>Despite not demonstrating a solid understanding of the Crown, the Court of Queen’s Bench arrived at a similar destination as <a href="http://cspg-gcep.ca/pdf/awards_winner_burroughs-e.pdf">my own research</a>. The ruling asserts that there is not a single unified Crown in Canada represented differently across provinces. Rather, there are multiple Crowns in Canada with their own distinct features and unique obligations to place upon officeholders. </p>
<p>New Brunswick’s Crown, the court argues, is the only one in Canada with a constitutional responsibility to two linguistic communities that are equal partners in the development of their settler state. This is an extraordinary declaration from the court and a critical advancement for our federation.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the novelty of the court’s ruling is undermined by its reliance on the status quo. </p>
<p>The constitution identifies New Brunswick’s settler nation as composed of two linguistic communities of <a href="https://officiallanguages.nb.ca/content/frequently-asked-questions">equal status</a>. The lieutenant governor, as the provincial head of state, is the political expression of this nation and therefore, according to the court, <em>has</em> to be bilingual. </p>
<p>Yet the court also affirms that the lieutenant governor’s position remains a fundamentally British institution, meaning minorities, including francophones in New Brunswick, must continue to navigate <a href="https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/february-2021/will-the-gg-search-scrutinize-the-underlying-whiteness-of-the-role/">the flawed limits of representational politics</a>.</p>
<p>Basically instead of assuming that francophones are equal partners, the court asks francophones to continue to be a minority, subservient to an <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/8772492/trudeau-feds-align-n-b-lieutenant-governor-ruling/">English and Loyalist default</a> to which the French language is an add-on. Although this court ruling is “<a href="https://www.thestar.com/politics/2022/04/14/cp-newsalert-court-rules-new-brunswick-lieutenant-governor-must-be-bilingual.html">wonderful news for the French language</a>,” it is not wonderful news for New Brunswick’s broader French-speaking community because it does not affirm the equal status of francophones. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man walks down steps, he's wearing a suit, there's a woman standing in the doorway behind him wearing a white dress." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459837/original/file-20220426-18-snkc3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459837/original/file-20220426-18-snkc3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459837/original/file-20220426-18-snkc3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459837/original/file-20220426-18-snkc3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459837/original/file-20220426-18-snkc3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459837/original/file-20220426-18-snkc3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459837/original/file-20220426-18-snkc3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Lt.-Gov. Brenda Murphy stands in the doorway at Government House in Fredericton, N.B.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A made in New Brunswick solution</h2>
<p>Where does this leave New Brunswick? In desperate need of leadership. </p>
<p>Federal ministers like Dominic LeBlanc and Ginette Petitpas-Taylor, who are francophone and from New Brunswick, may be in an awkward position. They cannot be seen supporting an appeal of a ruling celebrated by some members of New Brunswick’s francophone communities, but their government cannot let a court ruling stand that is so ridiculous and that confirms francophones are second-class citizens and not equal partners in relation to the provincial viceregal.</p>
<p>LeBlanc and Petitpas-Taylor must spearhead the government’s appeal of this ruling — greater judicial clarity grounded in a solid understanding of the Crown and its purpose are desperately needed. </p>
<p>And while we wait, there is much that the federal government can do to support New Brunswickers in determining for themselves — <a href="https://www.parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/44-1/bill/S-229/first-reading">without the help</a> of senators from Québec — who and how their head of state should embody their society.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/181764/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Tay-Burroughs's research is supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Leonard and Kathleen O'Brien Humanitarian Trust through the O'Brien Foundation.</span></em></p>The federal government must appeal this ruling — not because it disagrees with it, but because such a consequential decision requires greater appreciation of the Crown and its constitutional nuances.Robert Tay-Burroughs, PhD Student, Interdisciplinary Studies, University of New BrunswickLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1790272022-03-17T14:14:16Z2022-03-17T14:14:16ZCameroon: how language plunged a country into deadly conflict with no end in sight<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452205/original/file-20220315-27-16i0oss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cameroonian demonstrators in Belgium demand President Biya step down and release all political prisoners.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Since <a href="https://www.nrc.no/news/2019/june/cameroon-tops-list-of-most-neglected-crises/">October 2017</a>, Cameroon has been engulfed by a deadly conflict. The conflict is rooted in the colonisation of Cameroon by both the French and British governments – and the two languages that came with it, French and English. </p>
<p>Today, the conflict is between Cameroon’s military and separatist forces from the two anglophone North-West and South-West regions. </p>
<p>Between 1919 and 1961, these two regions were under British colonial administration and were known as British Southern Cameroons. Following a UN plebiscite, or vote, on 11 February 1961, inhabitants voted to “<a href="https://www.persee.fr/doc/afdi_0066-3085_1961_num_7_1_1100">reunite</a>” with French Cameroun on 1 October 1961.</p>
<p>But all didn’t go well after the unification of the two regions. The two English-speaking regions, which make up <a href="https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/central-africa/cameroon/250-cameroons-anglophone-crisis-crossroads">about 20%</a> of the population, have repeatedly complained of discrimination and exclusion. A year-long protest in Cameroon’s anglophone regions in 2016 <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/separatism-in-cameroon-5-years-of-violent-civil-war/a-59369417">descended into</a> a civil war in 2017. </p>
<p>Almost five years later, the conflict continues to rage on. By <a href="https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2022/country-chapters/cameroon#">recent estimates</a>, the conflict has already led to the death of over 4,000 civilians and more than 712,000 internally displaced persons from the Anglophone regions. More than <a href="https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/cmr_hno_2020-revised_print.pdf">1.3 million people</a> are in need of humanitarian assistance.</p>
<p>President Paul Biya, Cameroon’s leader since 1982, is fixated on pursuing a failed path of war against the separatist groups, whom he calls “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Radical-Nationalism-Cameroun-Origins-Rebellion/dp/019822706X">terrorists</a>”.</p>
<p>Sadly, there is no clear and credible agenda for negotiations as yet – which makes peace and reconciliation elusive. What is clear is that anglophone grievances run deep and have remained unaddressed for a long time. </p>
<p>As a political anthropologist who has <a href="https://media.africaportal.org/documents/Policy-Insights-117-orock.pdf">studied</a> the situation of Cameroonian anglophones at length, I see the way that elite and marginalised groups are defined by language as a driver of this conflict.</p>
<h2>Anglophone grievances</h2>
<p>The immediate origins of the crisis can be traced to the government’s violent repression of protests by lawyer and teacher unions in 2016. </p>
<p>In October 2016, anglophone teachers’ and lawyers’ unions launched <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/cameroon-anglophone-conflict-five-years-on/a-59363797">peaceful protests</a> against the “neglect” and “marginalisation” of the two English-speaking regions. Large groups of people took part in the year-long protests. They <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/12/5/cameroon-teachers-lawyers-strike-in-battle-for-english">focused</a> on the appointment of francophone teachers, prosecutors and judges in anglophone areas. The union leadership denounced these appointments as part of the government’s gradual but steady process of “<a href="https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/central-africa/cameroon/250-cameroons-anglophone-crisis-crossroads">francophonisation</a>” of the state.</p>
<p>In the francophone regions, such as Douala and Yaoundé, which host large communities of anglophones, French is often the only language that can be used to access vital public services. Disaffected anglophones are resentful of the chasm between the official claim that Cameroon is a <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Democratization-Modernization-Multilingual-Cameroon-Asuagbor/dp/0773422218">bilingual state</a> and the reality of anglophones’ de facto <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/28649856_Negotiating_an_Anglophone_Identity_A_Study_of_the_Politics_of_Recognition_and_Representation_in_Cameroon">second-class citizenship</a>. This is evidenced in the barriers they face due to language. </p>
<p>Anglophone Cameroonians have long complained about the almost total domination of public life by the francophone Cameroonians. The elites in this group are believed to have used their power to <a href="https://cameroonpostline.com/why-anglophones-continuously-feel-marginalised">marginalise</a> anglophone regions when allocating resources for economic development. </p>
<p>This historical marginalisation led to calls for a separatist movement.</p>
<h2>Republic of Ambazonia</h2>
<p>The separatists describe themselves as a movement for the “restoration” of the “<a href="https://ambagov.org/">Republic of Ambazonia</a>”. The name Ambazonia – derived from Ambas Bay, in the Gulf of Guinea – was <a href="https://ambazonia.org/en/?option=com_content&view=article&id=153&Itemid=8">coined</a> in the mid-1980s by an anglophone dissident lawyer, Fon Gorji Dinka. </p>
<p>A main reason for anglophone calls for separation is their resentment of the authoritarian rule by the country’s mostly francophone leadership. And, when anglophone Cameroonians protested, they were met with force. This happened first under <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/45193813">Ahmadou Ahidjo’s administration</a> (1960–1982) and then under <a href="https://qz.com/africa/1910195/cameroon-s-biya-faces-protests-as-anglophone-carries-on/">Paul Biya</a> (from 1982 onwards). </p>
<p>Since 1990, protests in the anglophone regions have often been met with swift and deadly violence. The same happened in the 2016-2017 protests. Unarmed protesters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/cameroon-police-students-idUSL121148920071112">were shot and killed</a> by soldiers. Those detained also <a href="https://african.business/2022/01/apo-newsfeed/cameroon-more-than-a-hundred-detainees-from-anglophone-regions-and-opposition-party-languishing-in-jail-for-speaking-out/">face abuse</a>.</p>
<p>Another important grievance of anglophone separatists is what they claim to be the <a href="https://www.cameroonconcordnews.com/southern-cameroons-when-independence-is-worse-than-colonization/">“coloniality”</a> of their union with the French Cameroon state. </p>
<p>Anglophone nationalists <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/4107332">question</a> the UN-imposed plebiscite of 11 February 1961. They argue that by compelling British Cameroonians to choose between Nigeria and French Cameroon as the route to their independence, the UN’s implementation of its own provisions for decolonisation in Article 76 (b) – regarding the attainment of independence for former trust territories – was flawed. The choices offered by the UN to decide between French Cameroun and Nigeria ignored the people’s desire and wishes for self-rule, which contravenes the very fundamental provisions of the UN’s decolonisation framework. </p>
<p>As a consequence, anglophone Cameroonians claim that the francophone majority views and treats the two anglophone regions as a colonial appendage. And that the region, and people who live there, are not an equal part of Cameroon.</p>
<h2>Hard road to peace</h2>
<p>The road to peace will be a hard one. </p>
<p>To achieve peace while maintaining unity in the country, some autonomists <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/cameroon/anglophone-dilemma-cameroon">advocate</a> a “return” to the initial 1961 agreement of a two-state federation. These federalists were in the majority among anglophones before the start of the 2016 conflict. However, after almost five years of violent fighting some of the federalists have become <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/02/25/cameroon-civilians-massacred-separatist-area">more alienated by the abuses</a> of the regime’s forces in the war zones. </p>
<p>Radical separatists – such as Chris Anu of the Ambazonian Interim Government and Ayaba Cho Lucas and Ivo Tapang of the Ambazonia Governing Council – are <a href="https://www.davispoliticalreview.com/article/cameroon-anglophones-independence">demanding</a> outright and total independence. They believe it’s the only way for anglophone Cameroonians to free themselves from francophone domination and to avoid future crises.</p>
<p>This split between federalists and separatists <a href="https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/central-africa/cameroon/272-crise-anglophone-au-cameroun-comment-arriver-aux-pourparlers">complicates</a> possible dialogue and peaceful negotiations. </p>
<p>This isn’t helped by the fact that Biya and his government <a href="https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/analysis/2021/3/29/cameroons-elusive-peace-rivals-rifts-and-secret-talks">have spurned</a> discussions with Ambazonian separatists or federalists on changes that would imply a loss of power for the central government.</p>
<p>In addition, the violent suppression of the anglophone protests in 2016–2017 has had two important consequences. It has made the mainstream or establishment anglophone elite fearful of speaking out. And it has further radicalised anglophone youth and rallied support from anglophone Cameroonians in the diaspora. </p>
<p>I believe the only solution to the crisis is autonomy for the two Anglophone regions. The exact form of this autonomy would need a long and carefully negotiated settlement between the different forces at play. And, whatever the settlement, it would have to be subjected to the popular will of the people in these two regions of former Southern Cameroons. </p>
<p>But getting this autonomy won’t be easy given the considerable reluctance from Francophone elites in Yaounde to concede a change to the form of the state. Moreover, the deepening authoritarian posture of the regime in place instils fear of violent crackdowns among dissident voices within the country and political institutions, like the parliament, have little or no capacity to drive measures towards a peaceful resolution of the conflict. </p>
<p>For steps towards autonomy to be taken there would need to be pressure from outside. This includes pressure from the anglophone Cameroonian diaspora, international media, human rights organisations, and major Western powers <a href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/RC-8-2019-0245_EN.html">such as</a> the United States and the European Union.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/179027/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rogers Orock received funding for this research from Bradlow Fellowship at the African Governance and Development Programme, the South African Institute of International Affairs </span></em></p>Anglophone grievances run deep and have remained unaddressed for a long time.Rogers Orock, Senior Lecturer in Anthropology, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1712342021-11-17T14:43:49Z2021-11-17T14:43:49ZFrance wants to fix its relations with Africa. But it’s going about it the wrong way<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431974/original/file-20211115-19-or7up2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">French President Emmanuel Macron, right, and President of Burkina Faso Roch Marc Christian Kabore at the Elysee Palace, in Paris in November.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Antoine Gyori/Corbis via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>French President Emmanuel Macron has committed himself to remaking the country’s relationship with Africa. In 2017, six months after his inauguration, he visited the University of Ouagadougou, in Burkina Faso, where he gave a <a href="https://www.elysee.fr/en/emmanuel-macron/2017/11/28/emmanuel-macrons-speech-at-the-university-of-ouagadougou">speech</a> announcing a new French policy that focused on African youth. </p>
<p>He wanted to forge a new connection with Francophone and Anglophone Africa while also acknowledging the traumas that French colonialism had caused. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Algerian-War">The Algerian War</a> of independence from France between 1954 and 1962, for instance, is still an open wound to many in Africa.</p>
<p>Macron followed his visit four years later with a key event showcasing the new direction of Afro-French relations. He hosted the <a href="https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/country-files/africa/the-new-africa-france-summit-reinventing-our-relationship-together/">New France-Africa Summit</a> in Montpellier, in October 8, 2021. </p>
<p>Civil society representatives from France and Africa met to discuss topics such as ‘citizen engagement and democracy’ and <a href="https://sommetafriquefrance.org/en/programme/">‘doing business and innovating’</a>. The summit was organised with the help of Cameroonian intellectual and philosopher <a href="https://wiser.wits.ac.za/users/achille-mbembe">Achille Mbembe</a>, who was also asked to write a <a href="https://www.elysee.fr/admin/upload/default/0001/11/47114246c489f3eb05ab189634bb1bf832e4ad4e.pdf">report</a> on the French-African relationship. The summit was billed to be ‘<a href="https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/africa-france-summit-held-without-african-heads-of-state/2387088">radically different</a>’.</p>
<p>Rather than having heads of state in attendance, young people <a href="https://sommetafriquefrance.org/en/">debated one another</a>. </p>
<p>In one roundtable discussion, young African entrepreneurs accused Macron of perpetuating French <a href="https://www.sociologygroup.com/neocolonialism/">neo-colonial policies</a> in Africa. They cited France’s support for <a href="https://www.theafricareport.com/103222/chad-my-father-would-be-proud-of-me-says-president-mahamat-deby/">Mahamat Idriss Déby</a>, the new leader of Chad.</p>
<p>This criticism of Macron’s approach is particularly painful for the French foreign affairs ministry because the event was meant to move France away from <a href="https://newafricanmagazine.com/16585/">Françafrique</a>, the approach to France’s sphere of influence in Africa built on personal <a href="https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/africa-france-summit-held-without-african-heads-of-state/2387088">alliances with African strongmen</a>. </p>
<p>This form of realpolitik was started under <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-de-Gaulle-president-of-France">President Charles De Gaulle</a> (1959-1969) and reached an apex under <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Georges-Jean-Raymond-Pompidou">Georges Pompidou</a> (1969-1974). Jacques <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/42897073">Foccart</a>, who was secretary-general for African and Malagasy Affairs under both presidents - became the point man of both presidents. Known as <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/news/monsieur-afrique-france-s-neo-colonial-architect-dies-1.54046">“Monsieur Afrique”</a>, he is considered to have been the mastermind behind several African coups.</p>
<h2>Return to the past</h2>
<p>As <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14682745.2019.1576170">my own research</a> shows, Macron’s new approach – focusing on cultural diplomacy – is nothing new. It was tried in the 1950s without success. </p>
<p>A good outcome also seems unlikely this time around. That is because it is out of kilter with the worldview of Africans - a world made up of imperialists and anti-colonialists, where the need for the fundamental <a href="https://theconversation.com/decolonisation-debate-is-a-chance-to-rethink-the-role-of-universities-63840">decolonisation</a> of society is constantly highlighted.</p>
<p>Macron’s plan also fails to acknowledge the injustices of an unequal economic system dominated by the global North at the expense of the South. In his view, addressing the ‘<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jc8RRhmwK80">aspirations of young people</a>’ in Africa will improve international relations.</p>
<p>In line with this, France’s Africa strategy of the 1950s, which was built upon <a href="https://www.culturaldiplomacy.org/index.php?en_culturaldiplomacy">cultural diplomacy</a> – an exchange of ideas, values, traditions and other aspects of culture – is being revived. </p>
<p>After 1945, African trade unionists and other members of civil society began making political claims and called for a new relationship with Paris. <a href="https://www.historytoday.com/history-matters/revolt-madagascar">Madagascar</a> was in the grips of a violent nationalist revolt against France between 1947 and 1948. Dakar, the capital of Senegal, became the epicentre of anti-colonial activism as trade unions became more political, as shown by the <a href="https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/senegalese-workers-general-strike-increased-wages-1945-1946">general strike</a> of 1946.</p>
<p>In response, French magazines such as <a href="https://www.parismatch.com/">Paris-Match</a> and <a href="https://sismo.inha.fr/s/fr/journal/261754">Bingo</a> were offered in the cultural centres of French West Africa. It was part of a plan to spread French culture as a ladder to modernity and a higher societal position for Africans. </p>
<p>What was called modernisation in the 1950s is today being re-branded by Macron as entrepreneurship. An example of this is the establishment of <a href="https://qz.com/africa/2072374/why-macron-is-remaking-frances-factory-of-african-unicorns/">'Digital Africa’</a>, an initiative set up by de <a href="https://www.afd.fr/en">Agence française de développement</a> to help tech startups in Francophone Africa.</p>
<h2>Old recipe</h2>
<p>The French leader’s willingness to venture beyond French speaking Africa as well as his reliance on an African intellectual (Mbembe) to sell his visions is also an old recipe. </p>
<p>In October 1955, <a href="https://www.presidence.sn/en/presidency/leopold-sedar-senghor">Léopold Senghor</a>, president of Senegal between 1960 and 1980 and in the mid-1950s the minister responsible for international cultural matters in the French government of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Edgar-Jean-Faure">Edgar Faure</a>, travelled to Lagos in Nigeria. The trip by one of the main intellectuals of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/Negritude">Négritude</a>, a literary movement, was meant to reinvigorate the link between French and African cultures.</p>
<p>Senghor considered Négritude a means to jump-start modernisation. French <a href="https://www.gc.cuny.edu/CUNY_GC/media/CUNY-Graduate-Center/Images/Programs/Anthropology/Events/Wilder,-Freedom-Time.pdf">language</a> education in particular was important since it facilitated the study of science, and increased the social mobility of lower classes. They would, like the elites, be able to familiarise themselves with France, which was in <a href="https://doi-org.proxy.library.uu.nl/10.1080/14682745.2019.1576170">Senghor’s definition</a>, a place of innovation an imagination.</p>
<p>By teaching more Africans French, more social classes would have access to all the science France had on offer. Senghor in effect turned Négritude – a way to reaffirm ‘black’ values, art and culture, with an emphasis on the French-African language and poetry – into an instrument of development. Like <a href="https://africasacountry.com/2020/04/a-letter-unanswered">Senghor</a>, Mbembe has also been <a href="https://www.news24.com/news24/africa/news/african-postcolonial-critic-mbembe-tries-fresh-start-with-france-20210604">criticised</a> by African intellectuals.</p>
<p>By the end of the 1950s, French cultural diplomats even believed they had something valuable to offer and they expected diplomatic support in exchange for cultural products. Therefore, institutions such as universities, cultural centres and language schools in places like Dakar and Accra had to be renovated. French books had to create an appetite for the French language by focusing on scientific, technical and medical knowledge.</p>
<p>By foregrounding the services that France could offer, the French foreign ministry wanted to avoid hurting African nationalistic pride which was at a high point as 1960, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/02/06/world/africa/africa-independence-year.html">the year</a> when 17 countries became independent, was approaching. Macron’s efforts at giving Africa tangible benefits, a bridge loan for <a href="https://www.institutmontaigne.org/en/blog/president-macrons-two-africa-policies">Sudan</a> for instance, is a throwback to that era. </p>
<h2>Why Macron’s plan will fail</h2>
<p>Why is Macron emulating old strategies?</p>
<p>A big part of the answer can be found in the fact that the international circumstances today are very similar to the post-World War II decade when the Soviets, the Americans, the British and other African nationalists were all locked in a competition to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14682745.2019.1576170">win the hearts and minds</a> of French Africa.</p>
<p>Africa’s economic growth and expanding political influence since 2000 have attracted external partners keen on building relations with the continent. Russia, China, Turkey, Japan, India, the United Kingdom and France have all held regular summits with African states. </p>
<p>A cynical policy of weapon shipments and business deals would simply be ineffective in such an environment where Africans are self-confident as a result of the <a href="https://data.imf.org/?sk=5778f645-51fb-4f37-a775-b8fecd6bc69b">economic improvements</a> of the past decade. Therefore, Macron’s cultural strategy that targets civil society seems logical. </p>
<p>But, it will remain ineffective if it does not acknowledge that many members of the African civil society do not appreciate French interference. The testy interaction during the roundtable at <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20211008-macron-seeks-to-rejuvenate-relationship-with-africa-at-revamped-summit">Montpellier</a> suggests as much. </p>
<p>It is, therefore, doubtful that the French return to the cultural diplomacy strategy of the 1950s and 1960s will yield very different results. As long as leaders like Macron do not fully grasp the distaste for French interventions in African affairs, no amount of cultural products or young people will improve the Afro-French relationship.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/171234/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Frank Gerits is an Assistant Professor at Utrecht University and receives funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council of the United Kingdom. He is a co-investigator in a project on “Regionalism in East Africa c. 1900 to the present” with Christopher Vaughan (PI), Alden Young (Co-Investigator) and Mr P J O'Reilly (Researcher) (January 2020-January 2023)</span></em></p>Macron’s approach to Africa policy emulates the 1950’s strategies. Why? A big part of the answer can be found in the fact that today’s global circumstances are similar to those of post-World War II.Frank Gerits, Assistant Professor in the History of International Relations, Utrecht University, the Netherlands and Research Fellow at the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa, Utrecht UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1703752021-10-25T13:20:50Z2021-10-25T13:20:50ZFrance has started withdrawing its troops from Mali: what is it leaving behind?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427737/original/file-20211021-17-1lscrtr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Soldiers from the French Army in Mali. The withdrawal of troops has begun.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Michele Cattani/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>France has <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20211014-french-forces-begin-northern-mali-drawdown-the-idea-is-not-to-create-a-vacuum">begun withdrawing its troops</a> from northern Mali as part of plans to reorganise its anti-insurgent forces deployed in the Sahel region under Operation Barkhane. French army bases in Kidal, Tessalit and Timbuktu will be closed by the end of the year and handed over to the Malian army. Air support will be maintained. But the current contingent of 5,100 French troops will be reduced to roughly 3,000. Adejuwon Soyinka asked Mady Ibrahim Kanté to explain the significance of the changes.</em></p>
<h2>What has changed since France first intervened in 2013?</h2>
<p>France intervened in Mali in 2013, <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/20130111-france-hollande-prepared-intervene-mali-islamists-un-military-au">“following the request”</a> from the transitional government of President Dioncounda Traore to help combat terrorism. At the time, the then French President François Hollande declared that the objective of intervention was to <a href="https://www.news24.com/news24/french-troops-help-drive-back-mali-rebels-20130112">“fight against terrorism”</a>.</p>
<p>The declared intention was to deploy French troops in Mali alongside the Malian army to stop Islamist forces going to the south. But it could be argued that the strategic objective of the intervention was the protection of French security and economic interests in the Sahel and West African region. </p>
<p>The initial focus was on the interior of Mali. But the reality is that terrorism is a cross-border phenomenon. In effect France’s intervention was aimed at imposing a reverse domino effect that would allow it to face the terrorist groups in the region – and to impose itself again in the Sahel.</p>
<p>But there are <a href="https://effectivepeaceops.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/EPON-MINUSMA-II-Report.pdf">few visible or effective results</a> on the ground after eight years of war in Mali. And opinion <a href="https://issafrica.org/iss-today/insecurity-in-the-sahel-wont-be-solved-at-high-level-summits">has started to turn</a> as Malians, as well as the country’s transitional authority, see <a href="https://minusma.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/s-2021-844_-_sg_report_on_minusma_-_english.pdf">the security situation</a> in the country <a href="https://www.un.org/press/en/2021/sc14549.doc.htm">getting worse</a> day by day. </p>
<p>While the France intervention was meant to help Mali combat terrorism, the crisis in the region has metamorphosed into an internal <a href="https://globalriskinsights.com/2021/01/conflict-moves-west-in-mali-towards-the-senegalese-border/">ethnic conflict</a>. In the Mopti region there is conflict between the Fulani and Dogons, as well as between the Bambara and Fulani. In Timbuktu and Gao there is conflict between the Touaregs and Arabs on the one hand, and between the Touaregs and the Songhais on the other. </p>
<p>The French forces face many challenges, in terms of protecting civilians, this is according to <a href="https://www.un.org/sg/en/global-leadership/un-multidimensional-integrated-stabilization-mission-in-mali/all">a recent report</a> by the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission (MINUSMA) in Mali. </p>
<p>In addition, France <a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2013/05/31/des-maliens-accusent-la-france-de-ne-pas-vouloir-liberer-kidal-occupee-par-les-touareg_3421583_3212.html">is accused</a> of protecting and supporting armed separatist groups in Kidal, one of the desert regions of northern Mali, by many Malians.</p>
<p>It’s therefore clear that France has lost its support of Mali’s government, which has <a href="https://www.voltairenet.org/article214422.html#:%7E:text=On%208%20October%202021%20during%20an%20interview%20with,fighting%20%5B%201%5D.%20%E2%80%9CWe%20have%20proof%20of%20this">accused Paris of training terrorists</a> responsible for instigating and exacerbating ethnicism in the country. </p>
<p>Combined with the population expressing their dissatisfaction about the presence of the French forces in Mali, France had no choice but to reduce its military deployment.</p>
<h2>Is France leaving Mali better off?</h2>
<p>First, we have to know that Mali has strong historical links with France since it is a former French colony. In the broader Sahel region, France remains the leading Western power. </p>
<p>But a majority of Malians have begun <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/01/21/mali/france-investigate-french-airstrike-killing-19">to doubt the sincerity of France</a>, with <a href="https://minusma.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/rapport_final_bounty_bounty9.pdf">mistrust</a> becoming increasingly prevalent. </p>
<p>The other development has been <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/09/24/russia-wagner-group-mali-africa-putin-libya/">Russia’s growing interest in the region</a>. If all French troops were to leave tomorrow, Russian forces – under the <a href="https://www.dailysabah.com/world/africa/russias-wagner-group-seeks-to-extend-presence-in-sahel">Wagner group</a> – would be ready to fill the gap. Russia has the capacity to do so. It has <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/africa/central-african-republic-troops-beat-back-rebels-with-russian-help-1.4468637">demonstrated recently</a> in Central Africa Republic that it capable of dealing with one of the most important threats in that country.</p>
<p>In addition, Malian public opinion favours <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/exclusive-deal-allowing-russian-mercenaries-into-mali-is-close-sources-2021-09-13/">the arrival of the Russians</a>.</p>
<h2>What does the future hold for Mali?</h2>
<p>Abandoned by its former allies, the Malian army is now on the ground without French military drones or American logistical support.</p>
<p>Added to this is the <a href="https://minusma.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/s-2021-844_-_sg_report_on_minusma_-_english.pdf">precarious political situation</a> in the country. There was a change of government in late May after a coup d’état. A month later on 20 July, the new President of the transitional Government, Colonel Assimi Goïta, <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210720-mali-s-interim-president-goita-targeted-in-knife-attack-at-bamako-mosque">was the target of an assassination attempt</a> at the Great Mosque in Bamako. </p>
<p>There are two possible scenarios:</p>
<p>The first would be that Mali establishes a new cooperation agreement with one of the world powers. For example, <a href="https://www.theafricareport.com/127421/mali-russia-bamako-to-sign-contract-with-wagner-group/">Russia and its Wagner group</a>. <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-58751423">In the eyes of some Malians and the government</a> they are better placed to manage the situation.</p>
<p>As for the second scenario, negotiations with the jihadists will be on the table, a move that’s been rejected outright by France. </p>
<p>However, it’s my view that negotiations with the two Malian terrorists <a href="https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/sanctions/1267/aq_sanctions_list/summaries/individual/iyad-ag-ghali">Iyad Ag Ghali</a> and <a href="https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/content/amadou-koufa">Amadou Koufa</a> will become the option of choice for the Malian government. They could then wage a joint battle against the Islamic State and non-Malian terrorist groups in the country.</p>
<p>But France hasn’t left the region – and by extension Mali. It will retain a presence through the <a href="https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/french-foreign-policy/security-disarmament-and-non-proliferation/crises-and-conflicts/g5-sahel-joint-force-and-the-sahel-alliance/">Sahel Alliance</a> which was launched in 2017 by France, Germany and the European Union. This works closely with the <a href="https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/french-foreign-policy/security-disarmament-and-non-proliferation/crises-and-conflicts/g5-sahel-joint-force-and-the-sahel-alliance/">G5 Sahel</a> which was set up by Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger as a joint effort to fight organised crime and terrorism.</p>
<p>Stability may be a long way off, however. A recent report on the <a href="https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/mission/minusma">United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission (MINUSMA)</a> in Mali shows that it faces serious challenges. The report notes:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In an increasingly challenging security environment, additional air assets are urgently needed to enable the Mission to deliver on its mandate.</p>
</blockquote><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170375/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mady Ibrahim Kanté does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>There are few visible results on the ground after eight years of war in Mali.Mady Ibrahim Kanté, Lecturer, Université des sciences juridiques et politiques de BamakoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1618592021-06-02T14:57:57Z2021-06-02T14:57:57ZBilingualism and diversity: The Supreme Court can — and should — have both<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403653/original/file-20210531-19-ubzq8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4928%2C3280&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Tulips bloom outside the Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>After 17 years on the bench, Justice Rosalie Abella is set to retire from the Supreme Court of Canada in July. As is always the case when a Supreme Court judge leaves, Abella’s retirement is spurring <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/abella-successor-1.5920832">some speculation about her replacement</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403655/original/file-20210531-13-uaat15.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Justice Rosalie Abella gestures" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403655/original/file-20210531-13-uaat15.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403655/original/file-20210531-13-uaat15.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403655/original/file-20210531-13-uaat15.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403655/original/file-20210531-13-uaat15.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403655/original/file-20210531-13-uaat15.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403655/original/file-20210531-13-uaat15.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403655/original/file-20210531-13-uaat15.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Justice Rosalie Abella gestures during a swearing-in ceremony in 2004.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">CP PHOTO/Fred Chartrand</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many Canadians have expressed their wish for the highest court in the land to become more representative of Canada’s ethnic diversity, with the eventual appointment of a justice who identifies as Black, Indigenous or a person of colour (BIPOC).</p>
<p>At the same time, the government of Canada is rolling out <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-official-languages-plan-aims-to-end-the-decline-of-french-in-canada-155843">a new official language policy aimed at shoring up French</a> in federal institutions, including at the Supreme Court.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-official-languages-plan-aims-to-end-the-decline-of-french-in-canada-155843">New official languages plan aims to end the decline of French in Canada</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><a href="https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2021/05/26/bilingualism-shouldnt-be-required-for-every-supreme-court-judge.html">Yet some have argued</a> that the proposed amendments to the Official Languages Act would impede the important goal of making Canada’s top court more diverse. </p>
<p>In our view, this characterization of the proposed language reforms is unfounded.</p>
<h2>No interpreters</h2>
<p>First, the changes to the act are focused on the constitutional language rights of litigants, not on judges’ linguistic qualifications. They would ensure that all Canadians can be heard and understood by the Supreme Court in the official language of their choice, without the use of an interpreter, as is already the case in every other federal court. </p>
<p>The Supreme Court was shielded from this requirement in 1988 by a special exemption in Sec. 16 of the Official Languages Act — always intended to be temporary — “until we reach a more developed stage of bilingualism across the country,” as <a href="https://parl.canadiana.ca/view/oop.com_HOC_3302_59_2/258?r=0&s=2">former justice minister Ray Hnatyshyn said at the time</a>. Times have changed and, as the most recent appointments to the court show, there is no shortage of qualified bilingual jurists in Canada.</p>
<p>If the Official Languages Act is amended, the judges assigned to a given case would have to comprehend the litigants without the aid of an interpreter. This isn’t necessarily a bilingualism requirement. Instead, it means that the judges assigned to a specific case must be competent in both official languages. </p>
<p>The nine-member Supreme Court, in fact, regularly forms benches of seven or even five judges for a variety of reasons, like when judges are on sick leave or elect to recuse themselves. </p>
<p>Ideally, every litigant whose case ends up in the Supreme Court should have the benefit of having it considered by all nine judges. In practice, however, a full bench is currently not guaranteed, nor would it be required by the proposed amendment to the Official Languages Act. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Nine judges in red and white robes pose for a photo." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403787/original/file-20210601-23-1fkwhyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403787/original/file-20210601-23-1fkwhyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403787/original/file-20210601-23-1fkwhyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403787/original/file-20210601-23-1fkwhyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403787/original/file-20210601-23-1fkwhyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403787/original/file-20210601-23-1fkwhyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403787/original/file-20210601-23-1fkwhyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The nine justices of the Supreme Court of Canada pose for a group photo in Ottawa in 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Second, claiming that bilingualism is a barrier for BIPOC candidates to Canada’s top court is a gross misrepresentation of minorities in Canada and of their language skills. The federal public service is instructive in this respect. </p>
<p><a href="https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/november-2020/diversity-isnt-a-zero-sum-game/">In the past four years, 28 per cent of the new positions created with bilingual or French-only requirements have been filled by racialized candidates</a>. That surpasses the national proportion, which, in the last census in 2016, <a href="https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/prof/index.cfm?Lang=E">stood at 22.3 per cent of the total population</a>. </p>
<h2>Francophones are diverse</h2>
<p>The reality is that French-speaking Canadians are just as racially diverse as English speakers, and that’s not only true in Montréal. <a href="https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/166a38a5-d02e-41b9-8045-39f74e8b21b7/resource/0a69875a-f681-4a25-8bb2-26666000a17f/download/cmsw-french-policy-annual-report-2019.pdf">Alberta, for example, has one of the fastest-growing French-speaking populations in Canada</a>.</p>
<p>Alberta and British Columbia also have <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-french-immersion-enrolment-record-1.5268865">wildly popular French immersion programs</a>, and many of these students are from immigrant families. Clearly, bilingualism is no longer a barrier for Westerners. </p>
<p>When we talk about bilingualism at the Supreme Court, we are talking about knowledge of French. The court has never had a unilingual francophone judge and it is safe to assume the government won’t appoint one in 2021, no matter the ethnicity or the strength of the candidate. </p>
<p><a href="https://whatsupwinnipeg.ca/supreme-court-only-francophone-judges-need-apply">It is sometimes argued</a> that only the best and most qualified judges should be appointed to the Supreme Court and that bilingualism requirements shrink the pool of qualified candidates.</p>
<p>In our view, this argument is bogus. Official bilingualism is already provided for by the Constitution, and the Supreme Court exemption in the Official Languages Act is no longer legitimate. Canadians should have the right to be heard at the highest court in the land — directly, without the filter of simultaneous interpretation — in the official language of their choice. </p>
<h2>Bilingualism is a requisite</h2>
<p>Supreme Court justices should not only be able to understand proceedings in both languages, but they should also be able to interpret the French and English versions of our Constitution and laws, which have equal legal standing. Side-by-side interpretations of both versions often help clarify the legislative intent. </p>
<p>Judges must also be able to read the evidentiary record of the cases they decide. These crucial documents — trial transcripts, affidavits, exhibits, expert reports — are often not translated but filed in the language they were produced. Arguably, unilingual judges cannot rely on their bilingual law clerks or judicial colleagues to interpret these documents without sacrificing their own independence.</p>
<p>How can a judge be expected to rule on a case when they can’t understand the evidence? Quite simply, French-English bilingualism is not a luxury at the Supreme Court of Canada — it’s a professional requisite.</p>
<p>The government is proposing to <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/funding/official-languages.html">increase access to French-language education across Canada</a>. This will do a great deal to increase the number of bilingual Canadians who, if they wish, can aspire to reach the highest echelons of the federal judiciary. </p>
<h2>Bigger barriers than bilingualism</h2>
<p>But there are more significant barriers to the Supreme Court of Canada than bilingualism. </p>
<p>For many racialized Canadians and Indigenous people, the rising cost of legal education in Canada is prohibitive. Law schools must ensure that a greater diversity of Canadians can access their ranks. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The statue representing justice looks out from the Supreme Court of Canada" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403651/original/file-20210531-27-1l1pufl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403651/original/file-20210531-27-1l1pufl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403651/original/file-20210531-27-1l1pufl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403651/original/file-20210531-27-1l1pufl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403651/original/file-20210531-27-1l1pufl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403651/original/file-20210531-27-1l1pufl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403651/original/file-20210531-27-1l1pufl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The statue representing justice looks out from the Supreme Court of Canada with Parliament Hill in view.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another barrier is the Canadian legal profession itself. It <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2273323">continues to struggle with its own history of systemic racism and sexism</a>, with damaging subsequent effects on the judiciary. </p>
<p>Pitting the representation of historically marginalized groups on the Supreme Court against another constitutionally protected minority — Canada’s francophones — is a misguided race to the bottom. The right way forward is to make a historically exclusive profession more accessible to everyone.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/161859/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Pitting the representation of historically marginalized groups on the Supreme Court against another constitutionally protected minority — Canada’s francophones — is a misguided race to the bottom.François Larocque, Professor, Research Chair in Language Rights, Faculty of Law, Common Law Section | Professeur, Chaire de recherche Droits et enjeux linguistiques, Faculté de droit, Section de common law, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaStéphanie Chouinard, Professeure de science politique, Queen's University, OntarioLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1549162021-02-21T12:05:28Z2021-02-21T12:05:28ZA ‘French malaise’ is eroding bilingualism in Canada’s public service<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/383568/original/file-20210210-13-1jghuza.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=13%2C32%2C4385%2C2835&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">According to a recent survey of public servants by the Commissioner of Official Languages, more than 44 per cent of French-speakers are uncomfortable using French at work. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>There will always be a historical distinction between anglophones and francophones in Canada, but this cultural and linguistic diversity should contribute to a society based on equity and inclusion. For this to happen, proficiency in both official languages is important.</p>
<p>According to a recent survey by the <a href="https://www.clo-ocol.gc.ca/en/publications/studies/2021/linguistic-insecurity">Commissioner of Official Languages</a> of 10,828 federal public servants in five administrative regions (Ottawa-Gatineau, New Brunswick and bilingual regions in Quebec and Ontario), more than 44 per cent of francophones feel uncomfortable using French at work, while only 11 per cent of francophones feel the same way about using English at work.</p>
<p>Of those 44 per cent of francophones, more than 37 per cent feel uncomfortable using French at work during meetings. While we might assume this discomfort is the product of linguistic insecurity related to speaking French in a predominantly English environment, it actually has more to do with organizational difficulties that make it difficult to work in French.</p>
<p>Earlier this week, Minister of Official Languages Melanie Joly <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/corporate/publications/general-publications/equality-official-languages.html">tabled a report</a> that would ultimately overhaul the Official Languages Act to “counter and remedy” the decline of French in Canada.</p>
<h2>Fear of being misunderstood</h2>
<p>Just under 90 per cent of francophones cited their anglophone colleagues’ lack of fluency as the main reason they avoided speaking French. Thirty eight per cent stated that French is not often used in their workplace. However, 32 per cent of respondents also expressed a fear of being perceived as “troublemakers” if they spoke French. In addition, 19 per cent of French-speakers surveyed were reluctant to ask for supervision in French. The most cited reasons were that their supervisor is not comfortable enough speaking French, or they fear being perceived as a troublemaker, or they do not want to disturb their supervisor.</p>
<p>In short, francophone public servants feel uncomfortable expressing themselves in French because their anglophone colleagues are not sufficiently fluent in the language. Some of them fear that if they “dare” to ask for supervision in French or take the risk of expressing themselves in their first language during meetings, their colleagues will label them troublemakers.</p>
<p>The survey does not explain why such a large number of French-speakers experience these feelings in a so-called bilingual workplace. Is it because they have been considered troublemakers at some point? Or have they simply internalized the fact that the French language does not have the same status as English in Canada, meaning it is better to avoid “getting into trouble” by working in English?</p>
<h2>Insecurity among anglophones</h2>
<p>This difficult linguistic context raises issues that go beyond the unequal balance of power between Canada’s two official languages.</p>
<p>More than 39 per cent of anglophones surveyed said they do not feel comfortable expressing themselves in French. Around 70 per cent cited a lack of practice speaking French while 61 per cent feared having their accent and mistakes judged and corrected. Forty two per cent also reported feeling embarrassed when their francophone colleagues reply in English after they have tried to express themselves in French.</p>
<p>The reasons cited show that the anglophones surveyed also experience <a href="https://doi.org/10.29173/af29376">linguistic insecurity</a> when using French. Linguistic insecurity affects language practices and “<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.20381/ruor-3314">influences the choice to speak one language rather than another or one variety (different accent) rather than another, as well as the decision to either speak or to remain silent</a>.”</p>
<p>The embarrassment felt by English speakers when speaking in French in front of their co-workers is caused by both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. A person may think their French is not good enough, or fear that others will make offensive remarks about their accent or the quality of their French. While lack of practice in French feeds the linguistic insecurity of English speakers, this linguistic insecurity, in turn, leads them to use more avoidance strategies to keep from practising French.</p>
<h2>A reversed balance of power</h2>
<p>It can be difficult for anglophones to practise their French if francophone colleagues judge, correct or ignore their efforts and carry on the discussion in English. The balance of power between the two language groups seems to be reversed here. The following situation might exist in the public service: a Francophone may hesitate to speak French because they fear being considered a troublemaker, yet they will not hesitate to correct an Anglophone colleague who tries to speak French. So, how should this problem be considered and what can be done to overcome it?</p>
<p>There seems to be a general uneasiness or “malaise” about French among both francophones and anglophone public servants in administrative regions where bilingualism is required. In defence of anglophones who want to improve their competence in French, but who are experiencing linguistic insecurity, “<a href="https://ici.radio-canada.ca/premiere/emissions/Le-reveil-Nouveau-Brunswick/segments/entrevue/59167/insecurite-linguistique-france-accent">French is a very prescriptive language, governed by the Académie française, which has established the norms of standard French and dictates that anything deviating from the norm can be considered less legitimate</a>,” Lisa Savoie-Ferron, a graduate student in sociolinguistics at the Univesity of Ottawa told Radio-Canada.</p>
<p>While French-language training and opportunities to practise French must be better harmonized in a work context where English is predominant, francophones also have a part to play in being more inclusive when it comes to French-language learners. In other words, anglophones who want to learn and practise French must be able to do so without running the risk of discrimination. The same must be true for francophones who want to communicate and work in French.</p>
<p>“<a href="https://www.cairn.info/revue-geoeconomie-2010-4-page-57.htm">Languages reflect the identity of a people. They are an integral part of cultures</a>,” wrote Trang T.H. Phan, who studies globalization and “la francophonie.” Official languages and their respective cultures define Canada. Linguistic diversity in Canada, starting with a better recognition of French, should not implicitly or explicitly view the “francophone difference” as a problem.</p>
<p>The freedom to speak French in the public service must be a recognized and applicable right that is exercised without fear of being considered a French-speaking rebel. Ultimately, the goal must be to promote the use of French in a context where English occupies a very important place in the Canadian public service. The federal government’s decision to update the Official Languages Act is an important and positive announcement.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/154916/count.gif" alt="La Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christian J. Y. Bergeron ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>A recent survey reveals a general uneasiness about using French among both francophone and anglophone public servants in administrative regions where bilingualism is required.Christian J. Y. Bergeron, Professeur en sociologie de l’éducation, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1391792020-06-18T19:31:09Z2020-06-18T19:31:09ZHow to preserve French language learning during coronavirus school closures<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337108/original/file-20200522-124814-1a83nf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1353%2C667&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Children being educated in French need to be regularly exposed to the language in order to maintain their skills. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>During this time of confinement due to coronavirus, children educated in French outside Québec are less-frequently exposed to the French language. Studies have shown that exposure is vital to maintaining their skills. It is safe to assume that exposure is also necessary for children to undertake online learning in French successfully.</p>
<p>In Canada outside of Québec, there are approximately 3.9 million children enrolled in schools. More than half a million of them, or 12.8 per cent, are educated in French. According to <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3710000901&pickMembers%5B0%5D=2.3&pickMembers%5B1%5D=3.1&pickMembers%5B2%5D=4.1&request_locale=en">Statistics Canada</a>, 430,119 students (11 per cent of all students in Canada outside Québec) were enrolled in French immersion programs and 167,259 students (four per cent) in French-language schools in 2017-18. </p>
<p>The linguistic context, expectations, teaching approach, social context, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3917/lfa.132.0029">classroom dynamics, teachers and students vary considerably</a> between French schools outside Québec in Canada and French-immersion schools. This is because the former were established to teach in ways that assume children’s first language is French and to protect linguistic rights in a minority-language context, and immersion programs are intended for the linguistic majority learning a second language. </p>
<p>That said, in 2018, the vast majority of students in kindergarten classes in French-language schools in northeastern Ontario were anglophone. </p>
<h2>Who attends French-language schools?</h2>
<p>The intent of <a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/rfc-dlc/ccrf-ccdl/check/art23.html">Section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms</a> is to preserve and promote both French and English as official languages of Canada. Section 23 stipulates which citizens hold rights to have their children receive school instruction in an official language minority context (and how these rights can be exercised). For example, if parents are francophones or went to French school in Ontario, they hold rights to French-language education in Ontario for their children. </p>
<p>A 2016 <a href="https://www.clo-ocol.gc.ca/en/publications/other/2016/early-childhood-report">report by the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages</a> indicates that between 1986 and 2006, the estimated number of children aged five to 17 who were eligible for French-language education under Section 23 of the Charter decreased continuously by over one-quarter. </p>
<p>According to Statistics Canada, the overall population of <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/cv.action?pid=1510000501">French speakers outside Québec got smaller between 1971 to 2016</a>. In 1981, 4.9 per cent of the population outside Quebec identified French as their first official language, but the figure was 3.6 per cent in 2016.</p>
<p>Parents who aren’t francophones or didn’t attend French schools may still, if they wish, seek to enrol their child in a French-language school. To do so, the child and the parent must appear before an admissions committee. Many French-language schools have students whose mother tongue is English.</p>
<h2>Maintaining French exposure</h2>
<p>Given the current pandemic, and the confinement it imposes, many parents and teachers are concerned about maintaining the French-language skills of their children or students who live in linguistic minority communities where English predominates. With the increase in free time, and inevitably screen time, comes an increase in exposure to English among these students. According to a <a href="http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2011/pc-ch/CH3-2-13-2010-eng.pdf">national study</a>, the vast majority of children (approximately 70 per cent) consume English-language media in the home under normal circumstances. We can therefore likely assume that this consumption is increased during a lockdown.</p>
<p>As a speech-language pathologist and associate professor at Laurentian University, my research focuses on minority-language acquisition and maintenance in an English-dominant context and the impacts of bilingualism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) on the language skills of children with developmental language disorders. I am the founder of a research and discussion group as well as the host of a <a href="https://www.theparlepodcast.com/index.html">podcast to raise awareness about communication</a>.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/B97OFFtBass","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<h2>Significant exposure to French needed</h2>
<p>Despite differences in French-language and French immersion schooling, there is one thing that brings these two modes of teaching and learning together: in order to learn and maintain a language, whether it is our first or second language, we must be sufficiently exposed to it. It is imperative that children have several opportunities to hear and use the language. </p>
<p>According to a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1367006911403202">Canadian study</a>, bilingual children must be exposed to a language at least 40 per cent of their waking hours in order to understand it as well as a native speaker of that language. However, a minimum of 60 per cent of exposure is necessary in order for the expressive vocabulary of bilingual children to be comparable to that of monolingual native speakers of that language. Thus, in order to achieve proficiency in French, children need rich, consistent and quality interactions in that language.</p>
<p>How can the French language be preserved during the pandemic when exposure to it is drastically reduced?</p>
<p>Several school boards have <a href="https://cspgno.ca/en/programs/learn-at-home/">posted strategies on their websites</a> to help parents increase exposure to French during the pandemic. For example, watching English television programs dubbed into French (such as on Netflix), watching French television programs (<a href="https://ici.tou.tv/">ICI TOU.TV</a> for example), using French applications such as <a href="https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/jeux-pour-lire-avec-sami-et-julie-lite-pour-ipad/id448877992?l=fr">Jeux pour lire</a> for younger children and <a href="https://apps.apple.com/fr/app/1jour1actu-linfo-du-jour/id961671038">1jour1actu</a> for teens, listening to podcasts in French, reading books in French, listening to audio books (such as from Audible), chatting with friends and extended family members, video chatting, etc.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340982/original/file-20200610-34666-1817t9z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340982/original/file-20200610-34666-1817t9z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340982/original/file-20200610-34666-1817t9z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340982/original/file-20200610-34666-1817t9z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340982/original/file-20200610-34666-1817t9z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340982/original/file-20200610-34666-1817t9z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340982/original/file-20200610-34666-1817t9z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">French immersion schools assume the need to teach French in order to use it for other subjects.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Strategies to maintain French</h2>
<p>Most of the strategies listed above are passive in nature, meaning that children hear French, but are not required to actively use it. The saying “use it or lose it” is relevant. It’s important to create opportunities during the day when children use French, either orally or in writing. This allows them to consolidate what they’ve learned and develop the skills that will help them maintain the minority language.</p>
<p>I have <a href="https://www.theparlepodcast.com/printable-pages.html">prepared resources</a> for parents with many of the strategies listed above, among others. <a href="https://www.theparlepodcast.com/index.html">They can be found on my website</a>. These strategies include creating videos or photo albums with French subtitles, video calls with French-speaking family members, using applications that require word spelling (such as Scrabble) and speaking key words throughout the day. These words are more sustained or literary words that are not necessarily encountered in children’s daily lives, but are very important for school learning as well as for reading comprehension.</p>
<p>I have recorded episodes of The Parlé Podcast in <a href="https://www.theparlepodcast.com/parleacute-en-balado.html">French</a> and <a href="https://www.theparlepodcast.com/the-parleacute-podcast.html">English</a> to help parents choose these key words and use them in a variety of contexts. <a href="https://www.guilford.com/books/Bringing-Words-to-Life/Beck-McKeown-Kucan/9781462508167">Several studies</a> have shown that even children in preschool and kindergarten can learn them and that the benefits are many. In fact, the <a href="https://www.guilford.com/books/Handbook-of-Early-Literacy-Research-Volume-1/Neuman-Dickinson/9781572308954/editors">vocabulary understood by kindergarten students is strongly related to the end of seventh grade vocabulary and reading comprehension</a>.</p>
<h2>Better a little than none at all</h2>
<p>However, even with the strategies listed in this article, it remains difficult for many families to achieve a level of exposure to French of 40 to 60 per cent of the child’s waking hours. These strategies, whether passive or active, rely on the support of parents already overworked by the countless tasks that have been added to their daily activities since COVID-19 disruptions.</p>
<p>One thing is certain, doing a little is better than doing nothing. The important thing is to establish a home routine to try to increase exposure to French. Parents need to find opportunities for their child to speak French every day and stick to it. This can be a meal, a particular activity such as bath time, a TV show, reading a book, video chatting with family members or with French-speaking friends. When organizing video calls, I suggest making a plan to give structure to the conversation. </p>
<p>For younger children, it can be a kind of scavenger hunt (for example, describing something yellow in a room, what they ate for breakfast). For older children, it can be a discussion about a French-language program that they’re watching. Activities for video calls can be found on my website.</p>
<p>Should we expect a decline of French language skills in children from bilingual or anglophone homes? Only time will tell.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/139179/count.gif" alt="La Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chantal Mayer-Crittenden ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>Whether kids are from French-language
communities outside Québec in Canada, or are learning French as a second language, ongoing exposure to French is key to maintaining it. Some resources to help.Chantal Mayer-Crittenden, Associate professor for the School of Speech-Language Pathology, Laurentian UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1335682020-03-22T12:21:21Z2020-03-22T12:21:21ZOn its 50th anniversary, the Francophonie can find new purpose despite mixed legacy<p>Fifty years ago, on March 20, 1970, the representatives of 22 countries met in Niamey, Niger, to form the Agence de coopération culturelle et technique, an international body dedicated to dialogue among French-speaking nations. The agency’s goals and structures shifted over time until in 2005 it became the present-day <a href="https://www.francophonie.org/">Organisation internationale de la Francophonie</a>.</p>
<p>March 20 marks Francophonie Day and March itself is <em>le mois de la Francophonie</em>. But these opportunities to celebrate a shared language and cultural dialogue come with baggage. </p>
<p>Some observers see in La Francophonie <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/19/emmanuel-macron-challenged-over-attitude-to-frances-former-colonies">a form of neocolonialism</a> that has helped to protect France’s international influence and promoted metropolitan French culture at the expense of local inflections. Even in North America, France is active in supporting Francophonie events; Québec, too, has used language <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02722011.2019.1650785">to assert political influence</a> beyond its borders since the 1970s.</p>
<p>The Francophonie may have a mixed legacy but there is no need to reject its principles wholesale. By looking at grassroots efforts led by determined individuals — in Vermont, no less — we can de-emphasize the France-centric qualities of the Francophonie. That way, we might foster good will and dialogue in an increasingly bordered world.</p>
<h2>Immigration and ‘bonne entente’, or good will</h2>
<p>In eastern North America, French has thoroughly transcended political boundaries. After 1840, French Canadians <a href="https://iehs.org/transplantation-of-french-canada-challenging-immigration-history/">emigrated from Lower Canada</a> (later Québec) to the United States in ever-rising numbers — likely more than a million over the course of a century. In the northeast, they built distinct cultural institutions that would ensure the permanence of their ethnic identity.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/321773/original/file-20200319-22632-1fh8t9x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/321773/original/file-20200319-22632-1fh8t9x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=976&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321773/original/file-20200319-22632-1fh8t9x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=976&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321773/original/file-20200319-22632-1fh8t9x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=976&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321773/original/file-20200319-22632-1fh8t9x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1226&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321773/original/file-20200319-22632-1fh8t9x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1226&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321773/original/file-20200319-22632-1fh8t9x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1226&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Joseph Denonville Bachand, an early proponent of bridging French communities past national borders.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(La Tribune, Nov. 9, 1938)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Enter Joseph Denonville Bachand who, in 1902, crossed the Canada-U.S. border and established his dental practice in St. Johnsbury, Vt. Bachand supported French-language endeavours in his state and continually reached back to Québec. Far from confining his interests to ethnic organizations, he launched a campaign for a state senate seat. He ultimately lost the primary in a crowded field.</p>
<p>Still, Bachand’s moment came. In 1937, he obtained his long-desired sinecure when <a href="https://learn.uvm.edu/aiken/about-george-aiken/">Governor George Aiken</a> appointed him chairman of the Vermont Commission of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. Bachand became the lead architect of a good will ceremony whose likes had been few in the history of Canada-U.S. relations.</p>
<p>On June 12, 1938, public officials from both countries gathered in the rural hamlet of Stanhope, Que., located in sight of the international border. There they dedicated the <em>Monument de la Bonne Entente</em> (Good Will Monument), a stone marker that cemented renewed dialogue and friendship between Québec and Vermont. Bachand and Aiken were present alongside Québec dignitaries. The Vermont delegates in particular noted the importance of cultivating shared commercial interests.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/321775/original/file-20200319-22602-1mauw6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/321775/original/file-20200319-22602-1mauw6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321775/original/file-20200319-22602-1mauw6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321775/original/file-20200319-22602-1mauw6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321775/original/file-20200319-22602-1mauw6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321775/original/file-20200319-22602-1mauw6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321775/original/file-20200319-22602-1mauw6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A newspaper clipping showing another ‘good will’ meeting, this one held in Vermont in August 1938.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Sherbrooke Daily Record, Aug. 3, 1938)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Connecting through culture</h2>
<p>I presume that Bachand, who called himself <em>the</em> pioneer of French cultural survival in Vermont, saw the event differently. He lived out the belief that immigrants could fulfill their civic obligations and contribute to their adoptive country while retaining their heritage. Anglo-Vermonters did not meet that proposition with perfect equanimity: many demanded <a href="https://vermonthistory.org/journal/71/vt711_205.pdf">an Americanism that erased minority cultures</a>. French Vermonters remained in something of a political and social wilderness — as Bachand himself had been.</p>
<p>He hoped to change that. His excursions to Québec and his work on the good-will ceremony of 1938 suggested that a stronger international relationship, growing from shared cultural anchors, might ensure the recognition and acceptance of French Vermonters.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/321776/original/file-20200319-22627-1kckykl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/321776/original/file-20200319-22627-1kckykl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1224&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321776/original/file-20200319-22627-1kckykl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1224&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321776/original/file-20200319-22627-1kckykl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1224&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321776/original/file-20200319-22627-1kckykl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1538&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321776/original/file-20200319-22627-1kckykl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1538&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321776/original/file-20200319-22627-1kckykl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1538&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A stalwart of Francophone relations, Joseph Denonville Bachand’s work prior the Second World War pre-dated the Francophonie, which celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Rutland Vermont Daily Herald, Jan. 13, 1959)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The event at the border did not occur in a vacuum. Representatives from Québec and Vermont had begun to meet on an annual basis. <a href="https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/Acadiensis/article/view/12036">Continentalist sentiments</a> were growing in intellectual circles on both sides of the boundary line. But, in Québec and Vermont, there was reason to believe that a shared idiom could yield benefits that would transcend economics.</p>
<p>Despite the dedication of the <em>Monument de la Bonne Entente</em>, those efforts were overtaken by larger, more urgent concerns, namely the Second World War. Yet, when Nazi Germany launched its invasion of Poland the following year, Vermont Governor Aiken was again north of the border in Canada with his “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_lieutenant">Québec lieutenant</a>.” Though continental integration continued slowly during the Second World War, smaller efforts were overshadowed by the conflict.</p>
<h2>Towards a new Francophonie</h2>
<p>Bachand’s cultural vision was left incomplete as he retired from public life in 1959. He died in March 1970, three days before the creation of the Agence de coopération culturelle et technique, and a few years before a revival of ethnic affirmation in Franco-American communities. He was already a forgotten figure.</p>
<p>Since then, new pioneers have used the French language to build bridges across borders in all of their forms. Québec’s sovereignty movement <a href="https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/francoamericain_forum/74/">inspired some Franco-Americans</a> to act locally for the preservation of their own heritage. More recently, some have <a href="https://www.npr.org/2017/03/27/521648929/in-maine-a-common-language-connects-french-canadians-african-immigrants">reached out to African immigrants</a> in Maine and welcomed them in their own tongue. Three years ago, Burlington, Vt., hosted Québec officials at <a href="https://www.uvm.edu/cas/vermontresearch/french-connections-franconnexions">an event</a> that seamlessly blended commerce and culture.</p>
<p>At that event, Vermont Attorney General T. J. Donovan reminded attendees that the historic marginalization of Franco-Americans has reappeared, now with other minority groups as targets. The winds of nativism are again sweeping around the globe, a dark reminder of the pre-war wall-building that Bachand witnessed.</p>
<p>The francophone world now has an opportunity to find renewed purpose and to break with difficult questions about neocolonialism and cultural homogenization. From a social wilderness and the supposed margins of the francophone world, Bachand’s work points to the value of individual agency and relentless dedication to bridging borders.</p>
<p>Language and language education are powerful pathways to <a href="http://querythepast.com/journee-de-la-francophonie-exeter-nh/">mutual understanding</a>, to <em>bonne entente</em>; people can and should reclaim that power, whatever their preferred tongue. Now, more than at any time since the 1940s, there must be dialogue between people of good will to complement and mould the concerns of state power.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/133568/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Patrick Lacroix does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>On the month of the Francophonie’s 50th anniversary, it’s time to think about the untold story of French connections across the Canada-U.S. borderPatrick Lacroix, Instructor in History, Acadia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1306432020-02-05T13:36:03Z2020-02-05T13:36:03ZTurkey in Africa: what a small but growing interest portends<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313045/original/file-20200131-41516-1u7t14e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends the opening of the new Turkish embassy in Mogadishu in June 2016.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">MOHAMED Abdiwahab/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The strategic presence of France, the US and the UK in Africa over more than a century is well documented. So is the <a href="https://mg.co.za/article/2018-10-24-chinas-expanding-military-footprint-in-africa/">growing presence of China</a> and the <a href="https://theconversation.com/russia-steps-up-efforts-to-fill-gaps-left-by-americas-waning-interest-in-africa-125945">resurgence</a> of Russia’s interest. </p>
<p>But not much attention has been given to other countries growing their influence on the continent. One of them is Turkey.</p>
<p>Geographically, Turkey sits at the interface between Asia and Europe, given that it straddles the Bosporus. This is the waterway that connects the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. </p>
<p>Geopolitically, it faces West through its NATO membership and aspirations to enter the European Union (EU). Simultaneously, and more actively, it faces East and South with its growing politico-military involvement in Iraq and Syria as well as its military and diplomatic forays into the Horn of Africa and Libya. </p>
<p>Turkey’s African drives started in 2003 when Recep Tayyip Erdogan was Prime Minister, a position he held between 2003 and 2014 before becoming president. He has overseen a <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2018/03/08/590934127/turkey-is-quietly-building-its-presence-in-africa">significant</a> growth in interest, making about 30 visits to African countries. </p>
<p>Turkey’s entry into Africa drew most attention with its drive into Somalia in 2011. At the time few countries supported the Somali government. This was partly because it remained a semi-collapsed state, unstable and since 2015 was even lending support to the Saudi-led coalition against the Houthi rebel movement in Yemen just across the Gulf of Aden. </p>
<p>Turkey’s presence in Somalia was initially premised on trade and economic support followed by security related matters. In 2016 it opened what is said to be the <a href="https://www.africanews.com/2016/06/04/erdogan-opens-largest-turkish-embassy-in-visit-to-war-torn-somalia/">largest overseas</a> Turkish embassy in Mogadishu. </p>
<p>Turkey’s involvement in Africa is intricately linked to its complex relations with countries in the Middle East. One example is its ties with Qatar. Turkey <a href="https://ahvalnews.com/saudi-turkey/turkey-expand-military-presence-qatar-new-base">expanded</a> its military presence in the country between 2015 and 2019. Relations between the two strengthened significantly after 2017 when Qatar disengaged from the Saudi coalition fighting in Yemen. Turkey went as far as to break the Saudi-led blockade of Qatar, offering aid and basing military contingents in Qatar. </p>
<p>Turkey’s ventures into the Arabian Peninsula evolved in parallel with a growing presence on the African continent. </p>
<p>Turkey initially premised its role in Africa on providing economic aid rather than military involvement. The move towards a military presence soon became apparent with the opening of a military base in Mogadishu, Somalia in <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-somalia-turkey-military/turkey-opens-military-base-in-mogadishu-to-train-somali-soldiers-idUSKCN1C50JH">September 2017</a>. This followed the withdrawal of the United Arab Emirates from Somalia on the request of the Somali government. </p>
<p>Turkey’s involvement in Libya has been more recent. But there is a similarity between the Libya and Somalia: both countries have weak, vulnerable governments and armed opposition groups. </p>
<p>One factor driving Turkey’s interests in the Horn of Africa in particular stem from perceptions of a new economic zone of interest accentuated by the <a href="https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/base-race-horn-africa">intense clustering</a> of foreign powers in the Red Sea region, including a good crop of Arab states. Djibouti has been at the epicentre of this. </p>
<p>This scramble for the Horn by large, medium and small foreign powers is set out in depth in <a href="https://sipri.org/sites/default/files/2019-04/sipribp1904.pdf">recent research</a> compiled by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.</p>
<h2>Growing tensions</h2>
<p>The most recent, and perhaps disturbing, Turkish venture into Africa is in North Africa, specifically Libya, where it provides military support for the UN backed government of national unity in Tripoli alongside its ally Qatar. </p>
<p>Turkey is deploying combat and support forces to Libya. This marks a significant departure from its initial economic and aid-driven grounds for entering the continent. The deployment is bound to increase existing tensions off the African coast on the Mediterranean. </p>
<p>Turkey’s involvement in Libya is closely tied to its maritime agenda in the Eastern Mediterranean. It is pinned on reciprocal support from the Tripoli-based government for <a href="https://thenewturkey.org/why-the-eastern-mediterranean-is-of-strategic-importance-for-turkey">brusque Turkish challenges</a> to maritime boundaries that regulate access to long-disputed energy deposits. These claims have a real potential to upset, or further strain, relations with Greece, Cyprus, Israel, Egypt and Italy. This is because overlapping maritime boundaries are <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/arielcohen/2020/01/08/turkey-libya-maritime-deal-upsets-mediterranean-energy-plan/#2ac8fdf46bee">not yet settled </a>.</p>
<p>Its involvement in Libya can therefore be seen as an attempt to reinforce its claims to large ocean tracts and energy resources located in the eastern Mediterranean and in Libya. Israel, Greece, Cyprus and Egypt are unlikely to stand idly and watch. Each country has its own vital interests linked to the known energy deposits in the contested maritime areas. At the same time they are also supporting different factions in the Libyan conflict.</p>
<h2>Dangerous cycle</h2>
<p>Another aggressive military entry into the Libyan cauldron is uncalled for. Adding <a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200115-2000-syria-fighters-arrive-in-libya-to-confront-haftars-forces/">foreign military aid and soldiers</a>, including foreign fighters recruited in Syria, risks prolonging the Libyan conflict. It’s already a messy affair, with forces of the Libyan National Army, led by General Khalifa Haftar, and supported by Russia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, opposing the UN-supported Tripoli unity government. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-too-many-cooks-in-the-kitchen-could-inhibit-a-peace-deal-in-libya-130391">Why 'too many cooks in the kitchen' could inhibit a peace deal in Libya</a>
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<p>Tied to this is the fact that Turkey seems to view Libya as a theatre to test or market its defence industry products, and showcase its military in Africa as a Turkish foreign policy instrument.</p>
<p>But the Libyan deployment holds the risk of setting up Turkish military forces in Africa against Russian regular and irregular contingents, or even fellow Muslim countries. Qatar is already supporting the Tripoli-based government with arms transfers, reinforcing the Turkish and Qatari axis.</p>
<p>Lastly, Africa can ill afford a third destabilised maritime zone off its coast if the Turkish maritime claims result in a confrontation – or blockades – at sea over resources, sea lanes of communication and maritime infrastructure. If the pending armed posturing affects access to energy product flows, the array of countries threatened by Turkey’s ambitions could resort to military force in Libya, and the adjacent oceans territory.</p>
<h2>Word of caution</h2>
<p>Turkey harbours strong national ambitions, and a willingness to grow and use its military muscle at sea and on land alongside economic instruments. </p>
<p>Weakly governed African states, such as Libya, provide fertile ground for exploitation by a growing number of smaller, but ambitious countries, akin to the <a href="https://originalpeople.org/scramble-for-africa-par/">scramble for Africa</a> by European powers during the imperialism period.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/130643/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Prof Francois Vreÿ receives funding from the NRF and Stellenbosch University. </span></em></p>Turkey harbours strong national ambitions, and a willingness to grow and use its military muscle alongside economic instruments.Francois Vreÿ, Research Coordinator, Security Institute for Governance and Leadership in Africa, Stellenbosch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1182722019-06-17T14:07:52Z2019-06-17T14:07:52ZHow Twitter has been used in Cameroon’s Anglophone crisis<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278904/original/file-20190611-32351-105js1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Protest in London against the Cameroonian government's attacks on Ambazonia separatists</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Karl Nesh/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Over the past two years conflict has escalated in North West and South West Cameroon. Cameroon is a bilingual country (English and French) and these two regions are the country’s English-speaking areas. The conflict <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/world/cameroon-anglophone-crisis/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.1d66794dc13f">started when</a> lawyers and teachers held strikes over the increasing use of French in English courts and schools. </p>
<p>Since then, what began as nonviolent protest has grown into a conflict that threatens to become a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/06/world/africa/cameroon-election-biya-ambazonia.html">civil war</a>. </p>
<p>Given this unfolding situation, we <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0144929X.2019.1620333">examined</a> how various groups – including the government, Anglophone activists, media organisations and citizens – used social media to report on events. </p>
<p>Cameroon has <a href="https://www.nyamnjoh.com/2004/12/media_ownership.html">a history</a> of suppression and control over the media. The government only allowed independent <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02500169808537841">mass media</a> to operate from the 1990s and most media was <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00358533.2018.1448347">state-owned</a>. In this context, social media could provide the opportunity to expand coverage of certain issues in a way that wasn’t possible before and in turn influence policy and perceptions.</p>
<p>We found that social media use has loosened the grip of governmental control of media messaging and expanded the public narratives available. Yet, at the time of writing, these changes did not seem to have lessened the impact of the crisis.</p>
<p>While it appeared that social media was having an influence on the situation, there was little analysis on trends and patterns which could show whether it was stemming violence or supporting peace. We wanted to look more closely at these issues, particularly to identify potential entry points for conflict resolution and peace building.</p>
<h2>Key findings</h2>
<p>Our main focus was on information publicly available on Twitter, though we also read posts from other social media platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, and YouTube. We manually retrieved tweets about the crisis that were made between September 2016 and December 2018. Only tweets in English were used to capture the reporting of the crisis by those who were most affected. The top three hashtags used were #BringBackOurInternet, #FreeAllArrested and #Ambazonia. </p>
<p>We analysed the tweets to see what people were reporting about. We wanted to see how:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>People viewed the cause of the crisis. Different interpretations of the colonial and post-colonial history of Cameroon <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ashuarrey2/posts/1369294183112753">were discussed</a> to show that the marginalisation that Anglophones feel has a long history.</p></li>
<li><p>People named the crisis. <a href="https://twitter.com/Smith_JeffreyT/status/999699896482566147">Various tweets</a> and other social media posts used terms like ‘Anglophone problem’, ‘Anglophone crisis’, ‘ghost towns’, ‘strike’ and ‘genocide’.</p></li>
<li><p>Groups used it to try to attract the government’s attention in a bid to start negotiations.</p></li>
<li><p>Violence was reported. There were <a href="https://twitter.com/innercitypress/status/1000063774508888066">many tweets</a> about the ongoing killings, human rights abuses, escalating violence, burning of people’s homes by government forces and of schools by armed activists. Tweets also highlighted the increasing numbers of internally displaced people and refugees in neighbouring countries.</p></li>
<li><p>Options for resolution were put forward. These included: decentralisation – which <a href="https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/central-africa/cameroon/272-crise-anglophone-au-cameroun-comment-arriver-aux-pourparlers">appears</a> to be the government’s preferred option; federalism – preferred by <a href="https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/central-africa/cameroon/272-crise-anglophone-au-cameroun-comment-arriver-aux-pourparlers">some</a> Anglophones; and the formation of Ambazonia (a separate state), which was preferred <a href="https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/central-africa/cameroon/272-crise-anglophone-au-cameroun-comment-arriver-aux-pourparlers">by others</a>.</p></li>
<li><p>Social inclusion and disability were covered. A number of tweets reported how the crisis was affecting vulnerable groups – like women, children, and people with disabilities. For instance, there were reports that people with disabilities <a href="https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2019/country-chapters/cameroon">died</a> because they couldn’t flee violence and <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/oppressed-english-speakers-in-cameroon-targeted-in-escalating-conflict">reports</a> of people developing disabilities due to injury. </p></li>
<li><p>The government responded. The government used social media to inform the public, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cameroon-separatists/cameroonian-separatists-risk-death-sentence-following-terrorism-charges-idUSKCN1NW1SX">report on</a> the arrest and extradition of some Anglophone leaders from Nigeria to Cameroon. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>When the government shut down the internet in English-speaking regions, tweets captured this blackout. Some posts captured government crackdown – like YouTube <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcKqYbjYRZc">posts</a> showing the military burning down people’s houses. Discussions on social media <a href="https://twitter.com/JosephMAtem1/status/1009140046111346688">alleged that</a> the military might’ve been responsible for images of their actions being spread. Consequently, the government <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-44561929">banned</a> military use of mobile phones on duty. </p>
<ul>
<li><p>People viewed global and international responses. There was frustration and anger that the UN and foreign governments had been silent while violence escalated. Some foreign governments, like <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cameroon-usa/u-s-accuses-cameroon-of-targeted-killings-of-anglophones-idUSKCN1IJ23Y">the US</a>, eventually did and condemned the Cameroon government and armed separatists.</p></li>
<li><p>Social media was used to fund raise and highlight deal-making. Anglophone activists tried to raise money to keep their independence movement going, while a British company was <a href="https://twitter.com/EmmanuelFreuden/status/1005150740644597760">heavily criticised</a> for making business deals with the Cameroon government while the crisis happened.</p></li>
<li><p>The economic impact was covered. Tweets reported how technology start-ups in the English regions were shut-down with some moving to the French regions. Others mentioned how workers lost their jobs and big corporations – like the <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/20181005-cameroon-economy-hard-hit-anglophone-unrest-jihadist-attacks">Cameroon Development Corporation</a> – were slowing operations due to attacks. </p></li>
</ul>
<h2>What this all means</h2>
<p>While it is evident that citizens use social media to participate in political discussions in new ways, we still do not have a clear picture of how social media is influencing the current crisis. In many instances, it appears to be amplifying violence, creating a culture of impunity when perpetrators are not held accountable, and increasing insecurity and suspicion. </p>
<p>The actual impacts of activists’ and citizens’ attempts to garner international attention using Twitter – when they shared horrific images of killings and destruction – did not get the results they hoped for. And these attempts to increase awareness did not appear to reduce the violence, at least during the time of our study. </p>
<p>However, there is growing international awareness with <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ab13c5c620b859944157bc7/t/5cf685bc19d167000186c6fb/1559659972339/Cameroon%27s+Unfolding+Catastrophe+%28June+2019%29_report.pdf">recent reports</a> about human rights abuses and <a href="https://www.nrc.no/resources/reports/nrcs-list-of-the-worlds-most-neglected-displacement-crises/">how the</a> Cameroon crisis is one of the most neglected.</p>
<p>Finally, while there were posts about peace, we did not see a strong peace building social movement. We are now hearing that it can be risky to even talk about peace, privately or publicly. Yet there are several <a href="https://twitter.com/atanga_lilian/status/1130182855437488128">recent examples</a> of people <a href="https://twitter.com/NyadiFrancois/status/1138759534061785089">who are</a> taking that risk using social media for peace building purposes.</p>
<p>For now, social media is most effectively used to highlight violence, documenting the impacts of displacement, social exclusion, and disability, and for garnering global and international responses. It’s less effective for gaining traction on mechanisms for resolution or Cameroon’s future. Hashtags alone won’t stop the violence – but they are one action that everyday people are using to try and do so.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/118272/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In many instances, social media appears to be amplifying violence, creating a culture of impunity when perpetrators are not held accountable, and increasing insecurity and suspicion.Julius T. Nganji, Adjunct Lecturer, University of TorontoLynn Cockburn, Adjunct Professor, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1182112019-06-09T09:03:47Z2019-06-09T09:03:47ZBurkina Faso: a weakened state is paving the way for terrorism<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278101/original/file-20190605-40743-cm07ja.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Military victims of a suspected terrorist attack in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, 2018. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA-EFE/STR</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Last month in northern Burkina Faso there were <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/05/killed-church-attack-burkina-faso-190526192956228.html">attacks</a> on a church and on a procession of Catholics. These have raised fears of religious strife in a country where security remains a major challenge. These attacks <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/burkina-faso-church-attack-soum-silgadji-priest-killed-terror-police-a8890866.html">follow the</a> murder of a pastor and five congregants in Silgadji, in the north, and <a href="https://www.panapress.com/Priest-kidnapped-in-Burkina-Faso-a_630585774-lang2.html">the kidnapping</a> of a Catholic priest.</p>
<p>These events are part of a violent trend that is mostly affecting the country’s northern and eastern regions. <a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2018/03/02/a-ouagadougou-recit-d-une-journee-marquee-par-des-attaques-meurtrieres_5265018_3212.html">Terrorist attacks</a> and inter-communal conflict – like the <a href="https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/special-report/2019/04/18/burkina-faso-part-2-communities-buckle-conflict-ripples-through-sahel">massacre</a> of Fulani in Yirgou (north) in early 2019 – there <a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2019/02/18/au-burkina-faso-la-degradation-de-la-situation-securitaire-gagne-du-terrain_5424915_3212.html">are concerns</a> have many concerned for the West African nation.</p>
<p>Who is responsible for the violence plaguing part of Burkina Faso? Why have Christian communities become targets? To answer these questions, we must first look closely at the country’s political context.</p>
<h2>Political instability</h2>
<p>The rise in attacks in Burkina Faso is largely attributable to the weakening of the state over the last ten years. This has been driven by political instability. For instance 2011 saw clashes between police and students and a military mutiny, during which several soldiers committed acts of theft and pillage against the populace.</p>
<p>With some difficulty, the then-president Blaise Compaoré eventually re-established control. He dissolved the government to appease critics. But hostilities flared up again when he proposed a change to the constitution to run in the 2015 presidential election. As parliamentarians prepared to vote on the constitutional amendment, he was <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-34277045">overthrown</a> in a popular uprising in 2014.</p>
<p>In September 2015, after a period of uncertainty during which the army temporarily took power, the Regiment of Presidential Security attempted a coup. Later that year the transitional government organised a presidential election that brought former prime minister and president of the National Assembly, Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, to the nation’s highest office.</p>
<p>But since his election, the government has had resistance from some groups who believe it is incapable of confronting the country’s multiple challenges.</p>
<p>The central powers in Burkina Faso, <a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2018/12/04/au-burkina-faso-les-forces-de-securite-demunies-face-aux-djihadistes_5392399_3212.html">and the army in particular</a>, have been substantially weakened by these crises.</p>
<p>In addition to domestic instability, the region is also experiencing significant insecurity, particularly neighbouring Mali. Some attacks have been claimed by Al-Qaeda, <a href="https://www.france24.com/fr/20160116-hotel-splendid-ouagadougou-aqmi-revendique-attaque-jihadiste-burkina-faso">who are present in northern Mali</a>. The weakening of the Burkinabe State means it can’t cope with the challenges within its borders or effectively police the borders, which have become very porous.</p>
<h2>Weak state</h2>
<p>A weakened central power makes it easier for violent groups – like highway bandits, local militias and armed bands of jihadists – to emerge and thrive. These groups carry out various forms of violence, from pillaging to religiously motivated attacks. Jihadi groups flourish in this growing atmosphere of insecurity.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278477/original/file-20190607-52748-mlfmaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278477/original/file-20190607-52748-mlfmaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278477/original/file-20190607-52748-mlfmaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278477/original/file-20190607-52748-mlfmaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278477/original/file-20190607-52748-mlfmaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278477/original/file-20190607-52748-mlfmaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278477/original/file-20190607-52748-mlfmaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Burkinabe protesters march against terrorism.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ahmed Ouoba/AFP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Although these groups usually act under the banner of Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State, they are often homegrown. They rely on local ethnic or religious divisions to gain traction. </p>
<p>This is the case of Ibrahim Dicko’s Ansar ul Islam, operating in the north of Burkina Faso. They exploit the historical rift between the Fulani and the Rimmayɓe communities, whose ancestors were <a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2017/04/11/comment-est-ne-ansaroul-islam-premier-groupe-djihadiste-de-l-histoire-du-burkina-faso_5109520_3212.html">enslaved by the Fulani</a>.</p>
<p>The actions of jihadi groups like this have led to violence, revenge and retaliation, as demonstrated by the <a href="https://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFKCN1OZ09Q-OZATP">Yirgou massacre</a>. Terrorism targets State institutions, like the police, <a href="http://lefaso.net/spip.php?article75952">local governments</a> and, increasingly, other religious communities, like Catholics and Protestants.</p>
<h2>Targeting other communities to target the State</h2>
<p>A look at other groups, like <a href="https://ctc.usma.edu/boko-haram-escalates-attacks-on-christians-in-northern-nigeria/">Boko Haram in Nigeria</a>, shows how jihadists will often other religious groups to spark and sustain open religious strife. In Burkina Faso, Christians are a religious minority, accounting for around <a href="https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2016/cr16390.pdf">20-25%</a> of the population. Repeated attacks against Christian churches, including killings and kidnappings, are part of the terrorists’ strategy to generate tensions between religious communities.</p>
<p>They also attack Christians, particularly Catholics, because of their relationship with the state. The government in Burkina Faso generally protects religious minorities. So an attack against Christians is also an attack against the State. And although a minority, Catholics have had a strong influence on the history of Burkina Faso. Since independence, many of the country’s leaders have been Catholic.</p>
<p>The Catholic Church <a href="http://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010012012">has a huge</a> influence on society and has acted as a moderator in the country’s times of crisis. By targeting Catholics, these attacks are targeting one of the main pillars of Burkinabe society.</p>
<p>Attacks on churches are also a way to get media attention in a conflict that has so far garnered little international attention. Attacks targeting Christians are a kind of publicity stunt. They are designed to provoke reactions from various groups including potential recruits, competing terrorist groups, the general public, and western embassies.</p>
<h2>A central position</h2>
<p>Given its central geographical position in West Africa, Burkina Faso is vulnerable to the political instability and influence of neighbouring countries. The gradual weakening of the state has left it open to the actions of violent groups.</p>
<p>From the start, the occupation of northern Mali by jihadists raised concerns among Burkinabe Catholics who are committed to the delicate balance between religious communities. They are also determined to maintain dialogue between Christians and Muslims. It remains to be seen if this will help the country overcome these new threats. </p>
<p><em>Translated from French by Alice Heathwood for <a href="http://www.fastforword.fr/en/">Fast ForWord</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/118211/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ismaila Kane received a government grant to carry out his research in Burkina Faso.</span></em></p>A weakened central power makes it easier for violent groups - like highway bandits, local militias and armed bands of jihadists - to emerge and thrive.Ismaila Kane, Politologue, chargé de cours, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1175572019-06-06T20:02:11Z2019-06-06T20:02:11ZDebat: How streaming media could change our minds on cultural differences<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277027/original/file-20190529-192383-1b42ly9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1500%2C909&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Franco-Moroccan author Leila Slimani (centre) with the president of the Goncourt prize, Bernard Pivot (third from right) and others at the 2017 Frankfurt Book Fair.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">John MacDougall/AFP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The influence of digital technology is most significant in how we experience culture and identity. Think about the use of streaming media.</p>
<p>An award-winning series streaming on Amazon, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Marvelous-Mrs-Maisel-Season/dp/B07G9LGZCM"><em>The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel</em></a>, is set in 1950s New York, and briefly in Paris. It features Rachel Brosnahan as the title character, Miriam “Midge” Maisel, a housewife who finds that she has a talent for stand-up comedy. When Miriam’s mother moves to France at the beginning of season 2, released in December 2018, it provides a range of opportunities for characters from New York and France to engage and interact, touching on subjects of identity, language and cultural relativity.</p>
<p>In his latest book, <a href="https://books.wwnorton.com/books/detail.aspx?ID=4294995598"><em>The Lies that Bind: Rethinking Identity</em></a>, Kwame Anthony Appiah recounts growing up in Great Britain as the son of Ghanaian father and a British mother who came from a distinguished family. Now a cultural theorist and philosopher, Appiah tells of his amazement as a child when he learned about the existence of instruction guides on how to speak with an upper-class British accent. Appiah was growing up in the 1950s at the same time that three characters from <em>The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel</em> visit Paris, and a time when information would circulate predominately in newspapers, magazines and books.</p>
<p>That such printed instruction guides given to the young Appiah no longer have the final word has been shown by recent events in France, where there was an interesting juxtaposition of opposing views in mainstream and digital media.</p>
<h2>Media, digitalisation and cultural relativity</h2>
<p>In November 2018, the French-Moroccan novelist Leïla Slimani, winner of the Goncourt Prize for <a href="https://nyti.ms/2ehWP1K"><em>Chanson Douce</em></a> (“The Perfect Nanny”), was designated <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2019/01/leila-slimani-book-adele-and-francophone-affairs">Francophone affairs minister</a> by President Emmanuel Macron. In her new post, Slimani has as her mission showing the “open face of Francophonie to a multicultural world”. Interestingly, when she appeared on the BBC broadcast <em>Hardtalk</em> she readily <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p004t1s0/episodes/downloads">answered questions in English</a>. While it is not unusual for French public figures to speak in English on <em>Hardtalk</em> – the French economics minister, Bruno Lemaire, did the same when he appeared days earlier – the way that BBC News is watched has changed since the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streaming_television">streaming technology IPTV</a> (Internet protocol television) became widely available in the 2000s.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, about one week before Slimani’s appearance, the French senator André Villini <a href="http://www.lefigaro.fr/vox/culture/2019/02/10/31006-20190210ARTFIG00183-il-faut-defendre-la-langue-francaise-contre-l-anglais-qui-la-menace8230-en-france-meme.php">published an editorial</a> headlined “We must defend French language against English which threatens it… even in France!” In the article, Villini cited a number of English terms widely employed in France, from “fashion forward” to “urban week”, and referred to newly created words – such as “Linky”, a smart electrical meter – that are inspired by English.</p>
<p>Villini’s opinion piece appeared in <em>Le Figaro</em>, an important representative of mainstream media. He bemoans that French language and culture haven’t managed to be an alternative to the current global “blandness” – a perpetual refrain when discussing the need to enhance the French language’s statute in the world. Concretely, Villani demands that public French business schools that now propose programs taught entirely in English reverse their course and require at least 50% be taught in French. He thus adheres to the cause-effect view taught in universities that a chronological series of events leading to linguistic unification was followed by the creation of a national identity. </p>
<p>Contrast this approach to Slimani’s responses in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/17/books/review/leila-slimani-by-the-book.html">“By the Book”</a>, a <em>New York Times</em> column that appeared on January 2019. Slimani, who is Moroccan and thus comes from a country that was colonised by France, was invited to name her favourite authors. She listed some national representatives of French prose, such as Maupassant, as well as authors from Africa and elsewhere in the world where French is spoken. This approach could well be one of the reasons she was named by the French president. “In the world we are living in today,” she is quoted as saying in <em>Vanity Fair</em> on January 2019, “it’s more and more difficult to defend diversity and sharing [across] different cultures.”</p>
<h2>Elective affinities of places</h2>
<p>Slimani’s penchant to write about race and class fits well with Appiah’s idea of a conception of identity that is less attached to the narrative history of a particular nation and more to a <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/01/01/the-killer-nanny-novel-that-conquered-france">cultural relativity</a>. They powerfully suggest that that the issue emerging from this contrast in views presents the possibility that our minds no longer associate language with a national identity, but rather with a set of cultural ideals and beliefs. </p>
<p>In <em>Chanson Douce</em> and <em>Dans le jardin de l’ogre</em> (“In the Ogre’s Garden”, or “Adèle” published in 2014), Slimani picks out different details about life in Paris that play a prominent role in the characters’ private lives. The novels are not the place for a dominant culture or singular role model. Sociologists tell us that cultures can be observed through symbolic interactions in public places, and their inherent instability highlights social behaviours that can ignore class lines and cross barriers. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277032/original/file-20190529-192339-itwwkr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277032/original/file-20190529-192339-itwwkr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277032/original/file-20190529-192339-itwwkr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277032/original/file-20190529-192339-itwwkr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277032/original/file-20190529-192339-itwwkr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277032/original/file-20190529-192339-itwwkr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277032/original/file-20190529-192339-itwwkr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In <em>The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel</em>, Rachel Brosnahan plays a New Yorker who finds that she has a talent for stand-up comedy. Various adventures lead her to Paris, where questions of language, culture and identity are raised.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.amazon.com/Marvelous-Mrs-Maisel-Season/dp/B06WPB59TM">Amazon.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Thanks to the streaming that has <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/JRME-11-2016-0049">changed media-consumption habits</a>, several examples can be appreciated in <em>The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel</em>. As the latest season begins, Miriam Maisel’s mother has left her husband to go live in Paris, nostalgic for her student days there. The husband and daughter follow, worried and anxious. Much like in the theory about the effects of place on behaviours, in Paris the daughter is seized by such an impulse at a nightclub, and with the help of a translator, engages the audience with a funny and sad list of grievances about her ex-husband. </p>
<p>Moreover, Midge is not the only one of the trio to take their cue from a new place. When the mother tells a waiter that neither her daughter nor husband has ever been to Paris before, the waiter replies by a Gallic shrug of the shoulders. The intellectual father, trying to adapt to Paris café life through passionate discussions with new friends, afterwards has to admit to his wife with a shrug that he didn’t understand very much.</p>
<p>Kwame Anthony Appiah argues that one is ill-advised to define culture as an indivisible whole but rather it should be seen as coming to us in many parts, sometimes separate, sometimes joined by a common history. Before, only print media could provide us with these cultural parts in the form of insightful mediations. Now, streaming media is providing them as well.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/117557/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charles Egert ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>The influence of digital technology is most significant in how we experience culture and identity. Think about the use of streaming media.Charles Egert, Research assistant professor, Institut Mines-Télécom Business School Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1134072019-03-21T20:27:27Z2019-03-21T20:27:27ZHow Francophone scholarship deepened our understanding of democracy and social change<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265081/original/file-20190321-93044-2tj1nl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=24%2C24%2C2020%2C1508&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A French-speaking Canadian volunteer in Haiti part of the volunteer group EDV that helped recovery efforts after the earthquake in early June 2010.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Haitian_students_learn_English_from_Canadian_volunteer.jpg">Emma Taylor/Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>What do Alfred Sauvy, <a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Pierre_Olivier_de_Sardan">Jean-Pierre Olivier de Sardan</a> and Frantz Fanon have in common?</p>
<p>Their works were all written in French and have made considerable contributions to our understanding of democracy and social change, whatever is the context. I explored this theme in a chapter of the upcoming book <a href="https://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9783030040512"><em>Building Development Studies for the New Millennium</em></a> (Palgrave Macmillan), which analyses how Francophone academic literature played an important role in building development studies.</p>
<h2>Some crucial contributions</h2>
<p>Francophone academic literature holds great resources for social scientists delving into social and political change. Given its geography, it covers a wide range of economic, social and cultural settings, including France, Switzerland and Belgium; Quebec, New Brunswick and the Caribbean; North, Central and West Africa; the Indian and Pacific oceans; and Southeast Asia.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265074/original/file-20190321-93060-176j8nv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265074/original/file-20190321-93060-176j8nv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=814&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265074/original/file-20190321-93060-176j8nv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=814&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265074/original/file-20190321-93060-176j8nv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=814&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265074/original/file-20190321-93060-176j8nv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1023&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265074/original/file-20190321-93060-176j8nv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1023&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265074/original/file-20190321-93060-176j8nv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1023&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Portrait of Frantz Fanon (1925-1961). Fanon was psychiatrist, philosopher, revolutionary, and writer from the French colony of Martinique. His works are influential in the fields of post-colonial studies, critical theory, and Marxism.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frantz_Fanon#/media/File:Frantzfanonpjwproductions.jpg">Pacha J. Willka/Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Observing socio-economic realities of the Francophone community opens up avenues of research and gives rise to analyses of development processes that may differ from Anglo-Saxon or other scholarships. With sociologists, anthropologists and political philosophers markedly influencing this field of studies since it was forged, Francophone works tend to give more emphasis to cultural and social values as well as to epistemological and methodological questions.</p>
<p>Some important pioneering work on development originates from Francophone authors: the very notion of the “Third World” was established by French demographer <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01436597.2012.720828">Alfred Sauvy in 1952</a>. This also highlights the key role of non-economic disciplines in shaping Francophone development studies.</p>
<p>Studies originating from Francophone academic networks have had significant influence on development processes themselves because they have informed a certain type of development cooperation and a range of aid programmes promoted in particular by French, Swiss, Canadian and Belgian stakeholders.</p>
<p>Institutional linkages can often be traced between academic institutions and cooperation organisations. For example, the <a href="http://graduateinstitute.ch/home/about-us/discover-the-institute.html">African Institute of Geneva</a> (now part of the Graduate Institute) was created in 1961 to promote research on development and train future development practitioners, and also to conceive international cooperation projects for Swiss governmental bodies and NGOs.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265079/original/file-20190321-93039-1jefgxq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265079/original/file-20190321-93039-1jefgxq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265079/original/file-20190321-93039-1jefgxq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265079/original/file-20190321-93039-1jefgxq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265079/original/file-20190321-93039-1jefgxq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265079/original/file-20190321-93039-1jefgxq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265079/original/file-20190321-93039-1jefgxq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Alfred Sauvy by Erling Mandelman (1983). Sauvy coined the term ‘Third World’ in 1952.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Sauvy#/media/File:Alfred_Sauvy_(1983)_by_Erling_Mandelmann.jpg">Erling Mandelmann/Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Linking theory and practice</h2>
<p>Francophone scholarship has called for reflection – and action – on democratic practices within and beyond states. This was accompanied by a <a href="https://journals.openedition.org/etudesafricaines/16742">key methodological change in the 1970s</a> as research ceased to restrict itself to the intended beneficiaries of development interventions and recognised the plurality of actors and agents in development processes and the essential role of power relations.</p>
<p>To better understand the relationships between “theory” and “practice”, I also mapped the research landscape and examined in which context and on what terms institutions for development research were created. Conversely, it is interesting to observe the trajectory and institutional positioning of development studies journals.</p>
<p>For example, the only academic journal that is directly funded today by the French Agency for Development (AFD) is <em>Afrique contemporaine</em>. This should be understood in the context of the privileged links that <a href="https://www.cairn.info/revue-ethnologie-francaise-2011-3-page-405.htm">French institutions have maintained with Francophone Africa</a></p>
<h2>The contribution of French sociologists</h2>
<p>My study highlights the distinct role of disciplines such as demography, sociology and anthropology in shaping Francophone development studies. In particular, it underlines the particular contribution of French sociologists in this field as early as the 1950s.</p>
<p>Sociological approaches of authors such as Pierre Bourdieu, Alain Touraine and Michel Foucault have deeply informed scholarship on development. The literature has therefore placed particular emphasis on notions such as <em>trajectoire</em> (trajectory) and <em>pouvoir</em> (power).</p>
<p>Interestingly, the early introduction of culture – and of <a href="https://www.cairn.info/revue-geoeconomie-2010-4-page-57.htm">cultural exceptionalism</a> – in development theories also brought about a hiatus and hierarchy between the cultural realm and market rules.</p>
<p>The promotion of cultural diversity and of language identity have been key objectives for the <a href="https://www.francophonie.org/">Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie</a> since its creation in 1970. France’s position was clearly articulated: cultural activities and artistic production ought not to be managed according to mere economic and financial criteria. In this perspective, cultural flows were to remain outside the purview of the market, which justified state interventions meant to restrict market laws in a range of domains. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Jean-Pierre Olivier de Sardan, Institut Français, March 2018.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Overall, Francophone development economics seems to have provided more critical approaches to development policies, locating analyses in more global or integrated perspectives compared with the Anglo-Saxon tradition.</p>
<p>It entered in conversation with other disciplines very early, partly because it gave more importance to the role of institutions in economic thinking. For example, <a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_Perroux">François Perroux</a>, one of the first French-speaking economists who theoretically engaged <a href="https://www.cairn.info/revue-l-economie-politique-2003-4-page-47.htm">with development</a>, used concepts such as asymmetry, disarticulation, domination and constantly aimed to test economic concepts empirically. His calls for engaging with other disciplines led to the creation of the journals <a href="https://www.persee.fr/collection/tiers"><em>Revue Tiers Monde</em></a> and <a href="https://www.cairn.info/revue-mondes-en-developpement.htm"><em>Mondes en développement</em></a>, where economics was associated, in a multidisciplinary approach, with sociology, political science, demography and statistics.</p>
<h2>(De)colonisation and scientific mobilisation</h2>
<p>I also suggest that the lived experience and memories of colonisation and decolonisation fostered activist, political as well as scientific mobilisation.</p>
<p>For example charitable actions across continents and activist engagement against the Algerian war led by personalities such as <a href="http://www.lebret-irfed.org/spip.php?article4">Louis-Joseph Lebret</a>, economist and dominican priest who founded the Institut international de recherche et de formation éducation et développement (IRFED) in 1958, were followed by long-term development activities carried out by these movements and associations.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265077/original/file-20190321-93028-f8b1t6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265077/original/file-20190321-93028-f8b1t6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265077/original/file-20190321-93028-f8b1t6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265077/original/file-20190321-93028-f8b1t6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265077/original/file-20190321-93028-f8b1t6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265077/original/file-20190321-93028-f8b1t6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265077/original/file-20190321-93028-f8b1t6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Father Louis-Joseph Lebret in Colombia, 1958.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis-Joseph_Lebret#/media/File:Lebret_Colombie.jpg">Centro Lebret USTA, Medellin, Colombie/Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The production of Francophone scholarship has been facilitated by the extensive network of parastatal bodies and research institutions involved in activities of “cooperation for development”. For example, the Belgian and French systems of <em>coopérants</em> allowed to collaborate to an activity of collective interest abroad in lieu of military service. Moreover, the network of French research centres worldwide (some of which already created in the 1950s) has favoured the immersion of researchers in local realities.</p>
<p>Researchers who gained concrete experience of development also fed diverse ways of thinking. In Switzerland, <a href="http://www.armand-colin.com/repenser-le-developpement-messages-dasie-9782200354763">Gilbert Etienne</a>, a development economist whose fieldwork in Asia and particularly in India extended over a period of more than 50 years, was a vocal critic of both large development theories and anti-development ideologies. According to him, both led to a stalemate as they were unable to make sense of the more subtle ground realities, which were necessarily informed by historical, geographical and cultural factors and thus called for interdisciplinary research.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.brookings.edu/book/development-projects-observed/"><em>Development Projects Observed</em></a>, Albert Hirschman’s influential book published in 1967, was key in shaping the analysis of development processes among Francophone thinkers as well.</p>
<h2>A Francophone renaissance</h2>
<p>Considering the effects of globalisation and the multipolarity of the world, Francophone political scientists and sociologists are remarkable for their observation of economic, political, social change from below; one can cite the Groupe d'analyse des modes populaires d'action politique, which was created in 1980 by anthropologist <a href="http://graduateinstitute.ch/directory/_/people/bayart">Jean-François Bayart</a> (Graduate Institute) to explore political situations from the perspective of subordinated actors rather than political power holders.</p>
<p>Studying these popular practices is key to understanding how authoritarian or democratic forms of government are experienced in everyday life.</p>
<p>Francophone scholars have largely contributed to <a href="https://www.persee.fr/doc/tiers_0040-7356_1984_num_25_98_3400_t1_0447_0000_1">“post-development”</a> and <a href="https://www.fayard.fr/documents-temoignages/le-pari-de-la-decroissance-9782213629148">“de-growth”</a> theories. And today the French-speaking development community is raising concerns about the need to rethink the relationship between society and the environment.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This contribution first appeared in an interview format in the Graduate Institute <a href="http://globalchallenges.ch/bulletin/newsletter/research-bulletin-march-2019/">Bulletin</a>, March 2019.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/113407/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christine Lutringer ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>Scholars such as Alfred Sauvy, Jean-Pierre Olivier de Sardan and Frantz Fanon wrote in French, but their work greatly contributed to our understanding of democracy and social change in all contexts.Christine Lutringer, Senior Researcher and Executive Director, Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy, Graduate Institute – Institut de hautes études internationales et du développement (IHEID)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1131982019-03-14T13:18:43Z2019-03-14T13:18:43ZThe exception: behind Senegal’s history of stability<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262868/original/file-20190308-150680-1muoxjt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Senegal developed a diplomatic tradition after gaining independence from France.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">A.RICARDO/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Senegal’s elections have been peaceful and the incumbent president, Macky Sall, has <a href="https://www.nation.co.ke/news/africa/Senegal-Sall-in-sweeping-election-victory/1066-5003934-6q2mu1/index.html">been reelected</a>. For many this comes as no surprise. Senegal has long been a stable democracy in a region plagued by military coups, civil wars and ethnic conflicts. It’s been considered an <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/africa/article/the-senegalese-exception/7FB40DEFB568CF98A9B25C3861B0F8B1">“exception”</a> in West Africa. </p>
<p>Markers of this stability have been visible since Senegal’s independence from France in 1960. There was a peaceful and democratic transition of power from colonial rule and Leopold Sedar Senghor, Senegal’s first president, established a solid <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40241060?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">democratic foundation</a>. He voluntarily resigned after 20 years in power.</p>
<p>Since then Senegal has had free elections, peaceful transitions of power, and civilian rule. </p>
<p>One of the foundations of Senegal’s stability is the strong influence of Sufi Islam. Senegal is <a href="http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/senegal-population/">94% Muslim</a> and Sufi Islam dominates culturally, economically, and sometimes politically.</p>
<p>Sufis – Islamic mystics – <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-are-the-sufis-and-why-does-is-see-them-as-threatening-73431">seek</a> divine love and knowledge through self-discipline. Senegal’s Sufis fall under one of the Sunni Muslim schools of jurisprudence. </p>
<p>My insights about the interplay between various Islamic groups, religion and the state is based on <a href="http://www.iupress.indiana.edu/product_info.php?products_id=807558">my research</a> in the country over the past 20 years. I examined minority Shi'i Islamic communities in Senegal, a majority Sunni Muslim country that has long celebrated religious freedom. The coexistence of various religious groups in Senegal is just <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-shia-sunni-divide-78216">one factor</a> that has contributed to peace in the country. </p>
<p>Aside from its religious dynamics, Senegal also has a long history of fostering global intellectual, diplomatic, and financial connections. These have all led to its “exceptional” stability. </p>
<h2>Sufi Islam</h2>
<p>To explain the foundation of Senegalese stability, the late Irish political scientist Donal Cruise O’Brien put forward a <a href="https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9781403963697">“social contract” theory</a>. The contract, he argued, was between marabout (Sufi Islamic leader) and talibe (disciple), as well as between the marabouts and the state. </p>
<p>Senegalese historian Mamadou Diouf <a href="https://cup.columbia.edu/book/tolerance-democracy-and-sufis-in-senegal/9780231162623">revisited</a> this thesis in 2013. He touted Sufi Islam as an “antidote to political Islam”. This was particularly true, Diouf argued, of the Senegalese model of pluralism, cooperation, coexistence, and tolerance.</p>
<p>But there have been other factors that have contributed to Senegal’s stability.</p>
<h2>Diplomatic tradition</h2>
<p>French colonialism positioned Senegal as a port of entry into West Africa. And while Senegal continues to maintain strong ties to Europe and the US it has fostered important relations with the Middle East and Asia. </p>
<p>Senegal is officially a Francophone country. In addition to speaking various African languages, many Senegalese are also <a href="http://www.iupress.indiana.edu/product_info.php?products_id=808100">Arabophone</a> – intellectually as well as linguistically. </p>
<p>The country developed a diplomatic tradition after gaining independence from France. It joined the <a href="https://www.un.int/senegal/content/permanent-mission-republic-senegal-united-nations-0">United Nations</a> in 1960, the <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/topic/organisation-african-unity-oau">Organisation of African Unity</a> (now the African Union) in 1963 and the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Non-Aligned-Movement">Non-Aligned Movement</a> in 1964. </p>
<p>Significantly, Senegal is the only African country to have hosted the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (renamed the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation) Summit twice – in [1991]and<a href="https://www.oic-oci.org/confdetail/?cID=6&lan=en">2008</a>.</p>
<p>Senegal smartly used the opportunity of hosting these Islamic summits to attract significant Arab funding for infrastructural development. For example, it <a href="https://www.kuwait-fund.org/en/web/kfund/home">receives</a> the largest amount of loans given by the Kuwait Fund to any African country. Today, Gulf aid has displaced Western development funds in Senegal.</p>
<p>Senegal is also a West African financial centre. It has taken leadership roles in the Islamic Development Bank and was <a href="https://www.theafricareport.com/2531/islamic-finance-sukuk-for-senegal/">the first</a> African country to embrace Islamic finance. </p>
<p>While these global religious, intellectual, diplomatic, and financial connections have contributed to Senegal’s stability, it has experienced periods of instability too. </p>
<h2>Not all plain sailing</h2>
<p>The relationship between the state and Sufi Islamic leaders has <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.14321/jwestafrihist.2.1.0165?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">sometimes</a> been controversial. And the state has also had conflicts with the young people who <a href="https://www.indexmundi.com/senegal/demographics_profile.html">make up</a> roughly 60% of the population. </p>
<p>One example of instability was before Senegal’s contentious 2012 presidential elections. The incumbent President Abdoulaye Wade wanted to secure a third term by changing the constitution. The movement <a href="https://www.unric.org/en/right-to-participation/28099-the-movement-yen-a-marre-weve-had-enough">“Y’en a Marre”</a> (Enough is Enough) mobilised the youth vote and organised political protests, which disrupted the country for weeks. </p>
<p>Policy commentators first suggested the events might insinuate that Senegal’s record of democracy had been weakened. But Wade eventually <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-senegal-election-idUSBRE82P06420120326">conceded peacefully</a> to Macky Sall after a run-off election. </p>
<p>Some are concerned that more instability might be looming. </p>
<p>Last month Sall won re-election. Some <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-22/senegal-s-sall-likely-to-win-new-term-in-presidential-vote">analyists</a> credit his victory to economic growth (<a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/senegal/overview">7.2%</a> in 2018), infrastructural projects and the recent discovery of offshore oil and gas. </p>
<p>But he has strong critics. His crackdown on corruption has been used politically to eliminate his biggest competitors. And he has been criticised <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/20190114-senegal-opposition-leaders-khalifa-sall-karim-wade-barred-presidential-election">for exiling</a> Karim Wade, son of Abdoulaye Wade, from Senegal and <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/20180830-senegal-court-upholds-five-year-jail-term-dakar-mayor-khalifa-sall">imprisoning</a> Dakar’s former mayor Khalifa Sall.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, Senegal looks good in relation to other African countries. Think of the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-47265993">recent elections in Nigeria</a>; Kenya’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/28/world/africa/kenya-election-uhuru-kenyatta-raila-odinga.html">repeated 2017 elections</a>; the 2016 Gambian elections, when President Adama Barrow had to be <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-38675741">sworn in from Senegal</a>; or the violent <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-11916590">post-election conflict</a> in Ivory Coast in 2010 and 2011. </p>
<h2>Lessons</h2>
<p>Senegal is important for Africa because it provides an example of a country that can help shift the narrative of the continent as an <a href="https://www.un.org/press/en/2013/sc11004.doc.htm">“arc of instability.”</a>. </p>
<p>For example, while Sufi Islam is the dominant religious practice in Senegal, religious minorities have long been accepted and given the freedom to practice their religion. </p>
<p>But I am concerned by recent reports in Western media that portray the African continent as another sphere for the Saudi Arabia-Iran rivalry to play out by disseminating Sunni-Shi‘i sectarianism in <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-senegal-saudi-iran-insight-idUSKBN1880JY">Senegal</a> and <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2017-03-08/as-trump-makes-threats-iran-makes-friends">Nigeria</a>. </p>
<p>There are tensions between the minority Salafi and Shi‘i movements. But it is inaccurate to suggest that West Africa has fallen victim to Gulf power politics and has no religious agency of its own. </p>
<p>So far Senegalese have pushed back against suggestions that the country is becoming more radicalised by promoting Sufi Islam as an Islam of peace. Despite the growth of minority Islamic movements, the majority of Senegalese are likely to adamantly remain proud Sufis.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/113198/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mara Leichtman's research in Senegal has received funding over the years from Fulbright, Population Council, National Science Foundation, West African Research Association, Council of American Overseas Research Centers, and Michigan State University.</span></em></p>Senegal is important for Africa because it’s a country that shifts the narrative of the continent as an “arc of instability.”Mara Leichtman, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Muslim Studies, Michigan State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1133872019-03-14T13:14:09Z2019-03-14T13:14:09ZNew dictionary provides nuanced insights into the language of African politics<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263655/original/file-20190313-123519-md28kt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In Ghana, "skirt-and-blouse voting" means to vote for different parties for presidential and legislative positions.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Every country has its own political language. These terms and phrases that have developed over time give distinctive meanings that may not be fully understood by outsiders. Unless we learn them, we may miss critical information about how politics really works.</p>
<p>Our new <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836?rskey=S2GlUD&result=1">dictionary of African politics</a> reveals the witty and insightful political terminology that people in different African countries use to speak truth to power and discuss everyday developments. It shows the importance of language for understanding politics and the varied experience of different nations.</p>
<p>The dictionary serves three key purposes. First, it provides clear and concise overviews of hundreds of key personalities, events and institutions from the colonial period to the present day. These range from Sudanese President <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/abstract/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836-e-18?rskey=uTavSU&result=6">Omar al-Bashir</a> to former South African leader <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/abstract/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836-e-369?rskey=1JOzOD&result=1">Jacob Zuma</a>, through the late Kenyan environmentalist and Nobel Laureate <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/abstract/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836-e-207?rskey=niJ4CK&result=1">Wangari Mathaai</a>, and <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/abstract/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836-e-380?rskey=eqpWgn&result=1">Aja Fatoumata Jallow-Tambajang</a>, a leading gender activist and the vice president of Gambia. </p>
<p>Second, it explains a rich set of theoretical terms that emerged out of the research on Africa over the last 70 years. These include <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/abstract/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836-e-241?rskey=jM8Mmk&result=2">neo-patrimonialism</a> and <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/abstract/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836-e-126?rskey=DB6e4C&result=3">extraversion</a>, which have become important for global debates about power and the way it’s exercised. </p>
<p>Third - and much more significantly - it allows for a better understanding of the contributions that the continent has made to the practice and understanding of everyday politics. It also makes it possible to share the perceptive and shrewd ways that people speak truth to power in various countries: this is the real reason that the world needs a new dictionary of African politics.</p>
<h2>Crowd-sourcing</h2>
<p>To access this wealth of <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/abstract/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836-e-191?rskey=UBSFIz&result=1">“kona”</a> knowledge (street corner wisdom in Kiswahili), we crowd sourced suggestions for the most relevant and insightful terms using social media. The hundreds of responses we received mean that the dictionary is packed full of fascinating terms from across the continent. These come from a variety of languages including Kiswahili, Chibemba, Kikuyu, Wolof, isiZulu and isiXhosa. There are also Africanised versions of English, French and Portuguese words.</p>
<p>An illustrative example is the wealth of English vocabulary that has emerged from the interaction between local political norms and democratic institutions. This includes the Kenyan model of <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/abstract/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836-e-238?rskey=EdksMo&result=1">“negotiated democracy”</a> – the sharing of political positions between different communities in advance of an election to avoid conflict.</p>
<p>Another is the Nigerian practice of <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/abstract/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836-e-367?rskey=wb49fF&result=11">“zoning”</a>, which was set up to try and ensure that the presidency of Africa’s most populous country alternates between northerners and southerners. That way, no community is permanently excluded from power.</p>
<p>Clothing-related expressions have also emerged in countries like Kenya and Ghana to show voting behaviours. <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/abstract/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836-e-331?rskey=btv8Ex&result=1">“Three-piece suit voting”</a> refers to supporting the same party for all elected positions. On the contrary, <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/abstract/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836-e-307?rskey=9fm46D&result=10">“skirt-and-blouse voting”</a> means to vote for different parties for presidential and legislative elections. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263591/original/file-20190313-123545-1uk04ol.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263591/original/file-20190313-123545-1uk04ol.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=918&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263591/original/file-20190313-123545-1uk04ol.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=918&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263591/original/file-20190313-123545-1uk04ol.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=918&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263591/original/file-20190313-123545-1uk04ol.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1154&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263591/original/file-20190313-123545-1uk04ol.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1154&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263591/original/file-20190313-123545-1uk04ol.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1154&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p>A series of evocative expressions describe a politician’s move from one party to another – usually from the opposition to the governing party following an inducement. Terms such as floor-crossing or <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/abstract/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836-e-92?rskey=fi4a30&result=2">cross-carpeting</a> are inspired by the parliament’s settings, or nomadic traditions - examples are <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/abstract/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836-e-335?rskey=8YEWOD&result=8">transhumance</a> and <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/abstract/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836-e-247?rskey=fi4a30&result=1">“nomadisme politique”</a>.</p>
<h2>Ingenuity and humour</h2>
<p>The ingredients that shape these terms are decades, if not centuries old. They thus provide an insight into a collective memory that goes back to well before colonial rule. But, language also evolves to keep up with the times. In French, for example, <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/abstract/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836-e-154?rskey=UDYlO6&result=1">glissement</a> means to slide. But, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the word recently took on a whole new meaning. This, as former President Joseph Kabila repeatedly postponed scheduled elections that would see him stand down. Congolese citizens started using the term to refer to the act of deliberately “sliding” past the official election date to retain power indefinitely. </p>
<p>Similarly, in Francophone Africa the term <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/abstract/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836-e-22?rskey=OVO2zc&result=1">“alternance”</a>, used as the demand for a transfer of power, shows a passionate commitment to the liberal-democratic norm of putting limits on the number of terms a president may serve. This has no equivalent in Europe and North America.</p>
<p>While the use of words such as glissement hint at the world-weary cynicism many ordinary people feel towards their leaders, other terms revel in the joy of wordplay. One of our favourites is <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/abstract/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836-e-354?rskey=9XpuIj&result=6">“Watermelon politics”</a>. It refers to an individual that professes to support one political party but in reality belongs to another. </p>
<p>It was coined in Zambia, where activists from the opposition <a href="http://www.lusakavoice.com/2016/08/11/watermelon-campaign-can-history-repeat-itself/">United Party of National Development</a>, (whose colour was then red), pretended to support the governing party, the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/patrioticfrontzambia/">Patriotic Front</a>, (whose colour was green), to avoid reprisals. They were thus depicted as “green on the outside, but red on the inside”. </p>
<p>Such expressions show the ingenuity and humour with which citizens evade despotism and exercise their democratic rights. They also show how much researchers and journalists miss when they don’t pay attention to African ideas and concepts. Thus, the best reason to read this dictionary is to learn about the political ingenuity of African citizens and to gain insights into local political ideas and frames of reference.</p>
<p>The dictionary is also about much more than that. It includes one of the most thorough timelines of African political events ever compiled, with direct links to entries that put critical events into context. It also provides useful overviews of the topics that are of most interest to students. These range from from <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/abstract/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836-e-162?rskey=x1r3cO&result=26">HIV/Aids</a> to <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/abstract/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836-e-151?rskey=Yl2bUJ&result=1">gender quotas</a>, and from the anti-<a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/abstract/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836-e-30?rskey=pwVNsB&result=6">apartheid</a> struggle to the Rwandan <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/abstract/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836-e-153?rskey=05849U&result=17">genocide</a>. </p>
<p>Our hope is that it does justice to the efforts of the many people who took time to send in the suggestions that have enriched it, and that everyone who takes a look learns something new.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/113387/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nic Cheeseman and the other authors of this piece wrote the dictionary referred to in this piece for Oxford University Press.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eloïse Bertrand and Sa'eed Husaini do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A dictionary of African politics reveals the witty and insightful political terminology that people in different African countries use.Nic Cheeseman, Professor of Democracy, University of BirminghamEloïse Bertrand, PhD Student in Politics and International Studies, University of WarwickSa'eed Husaini, DPhil Candidate, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1027972019-02-28T14:33:09Z2019-02-28T14:33:09ZIt’s time to rethink how foreign languages are taught at universities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261204/original/file-20190227-150721-fvewgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Recreating communicative situations in the classroom does not guarantee language acquisition.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many people underestimate the difficulty involved in learning a language. This is because language acquisition goes beyond comprehension. It also involves socialisation and emotion. The high level of personal engagement this requires is even more challenging at South African universities, where students are struggling to meet the demands of academic life. </p>
<p>This situation has compelled many educators such as myself, teaching in the field of French and Francophone studies at Witwatersrand University, to reflect on our teaching practice. </p>
<p>The broad aim of language education is to communicate independently in a foreign language. This is based on the premise that language skills learned in classrooms are easily transferable to real-life situations, and that students will be proficient at the end of a language programme. But this isn’t the case and results almost always fall short of this expectation. </p>
<p>This, and the current <a href="https://mg.co.za/article/2017-10-13-00-no-quick-fix-for-university-crisis">learning crisis</a> in tertiary education, means that an urgent conversation on the process of learning is necessary. More attention should be paid to learner subjectivity and experience – an important component of language acquisition.</p>
<p>A growing body of <a href="http://revistas.uned.es/index.php/ELIA/article/download/18069/15230">research</a> underscores the importance of a shift in thinking. It’s clear that a purely cognitive approach to learning, even if learner-centered and communicative, won’t guarantee student engagement. More emphasis on the experience of learning a language is required in teaching. </p>
<h2>Teaching and learning paradox</h2>
<p>I’ve never met a person who has studied French – or any other foreign language for that matter – who doesn’t feel apologetic, inadequate or even guilty for their language skills. People often put their difficulties in communicating down to not being “good at languages” or “not applying themselves” enough. But in reality, there are a number of factors that hinder acquisition. These have little to do with students’ aptitudes, limitations and levels of motivation.</p>
<p>Learning a foreign language in an institutional context comes with structural constraints. These include limited contact time and a lack of socialisation into the language through an existing community that speaks the target language. </p>
<p>One way to counter these obstacles is recreating communicative situations in classrooms such as structured dialogues between learners. But these approaches are often too artificial and ritualised – teachers and learners are trapped in their respective roles and the spontaneity that characterises real-life communication remains elusive. Often, knowledge about the language doesn’t transfer to knowledge about how to use the language. </p>
<p>The idea of the “native speaker” as a model of proficiency still <a href="http://asian-efl-journal.com/June_05_jl.pdf">dominates</a> language education, even though it’s unrealistic and impossible to define. Language errors are often stigmatised instead of being viewed as a natural and meaningful part of building communicative skills. </p>
<p>Teachers who banish the students’ first language from the classroom disempower learners who are already vulnerable expressing themselves in the language they’re studying. All of these factors contribute to a negative learning experience and linguistic insecurity, which in turn lead to poor results. </p>
<h2>Changing student culture</h2>
<p>These difficulties are compounded by the fact that students at South African universities are already battling with significant challenges. Financial pressures due to structural inequalities, academic unpreparedness and increasingly, mental health disorders have become a common feature of university life. On the whole, undergraduate students seem to lack the learning strategies and emotional resilience required to successfully complete academic courses. </p>
<p>Student culture is also changing. The democratisation of learning spaces has come under the spotlight again and was intensified by the student-driven movement of <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1187109.pdf">decolonisation</a>. Students are laying a claim to their own histories and identities which have been historically marginalised. As a result, learner subjectivity and experience are being afforded more importance in teaching and learning settings at universities. This affective (emotional) dimension of language acquisition is often overlooked in teaching. </p>
<h2>The value of learning</h2>
<p>In light of this, educators and students should be spending a lot more time talking about why and how they are teaching and learning languages. This would go far in addressing the immediate needs of the students. It would also broaden the scope of teaching beyond its typically results-based, utilitarian focus. </p>
<p>Addressing learning in itself would firstly develop learning strategies and cultivate self-awareness in students who are emotionally and academically ill-equipped to learn independently. It would link the learning process to self-development, which goes beyond linguistic knowledge and know-how.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/102797/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fiona Horne does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The environment at universities isn’t conducive to effectively teaching and learning new languages.Fiona Horne, Senior Lecturer in French and Francophone Studies, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1119732019-02-24T15:27:20Z2019-02-24T15:27:20ZThe Université de l’Ontario français: Here’s what it could become<p>The Government of Ontario’s hasty decision <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/doug-ford-news-conference-1.4911696">to cancel plans and funding for the</a> <a href="http://www.uontario.ca/">Université de l'Ontario français</a> recently generated an outpouring of <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-resistance-to-doug-ford-french-language-cuts-1.4928920">protests</a> and a surge of <a href="https://www.change.org/p/maintenir-le-projet-de-l-universit%C3%A9-de-l-ontario-fran%C3%A7ais-m-ford-tenez-vos-promesses">solidarity with the university founders, with close to 13,000 signatures being added to one of several online petitions</a>.</p>
<p>In French-speaking media, <a href="https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1137031/ontario-universite-francais-histoire-archives">journalists explored what it could mean for francophones to establish a hub in Toronto</a> and historians were roused to comment about <a href="https://histoireengagee.ca/quelle-universite-pour-quelle-societe-petite-histoire-du-debat-intellectuel-entourant-la-question-universitaire-franco-ontarienne/">generations of dialogue and advocacy among Franco-Ontarians</a> for French-language education. </p>
<p>So what has become of Université de l'Ontario français? Has the blow, delivered by the Ontario’s government, even <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-ontario-government-cancels-plans-for-provinces-first-official/">after funds were promised during the recent election</a>, totally thwarted the university’s establishment, vision and plans? </p>
<p>Not at all. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/s17034">In 2017, Université de l’Ontario français was already established by law under Schedule 43 of Bill 177</a>. The university’s first board of governors was appointed in April 2018 and a small team has been in place since December 2017. With a network of some 100 Canadian and international academics and experts, the first wave of academic <a href="https://uontario.ca/futurs-etudiants/">programs</a> was developed. Yet the process <a href="http://www.peqab.ca/">of having programs approved</a> is now on hold. </p>
<p>While funding from <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-not-funding-french-language-university-1.4978216">the government of Ontario has been suspended for an indefinite period</a>, the crisis has had the merit of introducing Université de l’Ontario français to a large audience.</p>
<p>Judging by multiple offers of collaboration and financial support, the public is in solidarity with empowering the francophone community into post-secondary education. </p>
<p>Recently, the Government of Canada announced <a href="https://onfr.tfo.org/le-federal-prolonge-le-financement-de-luniversite-de-lontario-francais-dun-an/">$1.9 million in funding</a> for the university to establish a foundational francophone hub with its partners. </p>
<p>As one of the researchers and advocates involved in creating this new university, let me share an overview of how Université de l'Ontario français was gradually designed.</p>
<h2>A deeply rooted demand</h2>
<p>In 2013, <a href="http://etatsgeneraux.ca/resources/Communique%20-%20La%20communaute%20dit%20oui%20a%20une%20universite%20de%20langue%20francaise.pdf">provincewide consultations about the state of post-secondary education in French-speaking Ontario</a> had built on decades of <a href="http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/fre/document/reports/fo95f.pdf">government reports</a> to identify a priority of establishing a university. </p>
<p>Université de l'Ontario français is rooted in the francophone community of central and southwestern Ontario, which has approximately 250,000 francophones but lacks a dedicated French-language university. </p>
<p>Multiple studies and consultations demonstrated the <a href="https://www.tvo.org/article/current-affairs/the-case-for-a-french-language-university-in-ontario">need and strong demand for such a university in central and southwestern Ontario</a>.</p>
<p>There is a French-language university in northern Ontario (<a href="http://www.uhearst.ca/english">Université de Hearst</a>) affiliated with a bilingual university, Laurentian University in Sudbury. There are also bilingual universities that offer bilingual programs in Ottawa and Toronto. However, these bilingual institutions are not considered
to be governed by and for francophones.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/17u34##BK6">new university’s charter</a>, on the other hand, specifies that it must “support governance by and for the French-speaking community by conducting the affairs of the University in French.”</p>
<p>In <a href="http://www.tcu.gov.on.ca/pepg/publications/ConseilPUFO-aug2017-e.pdf">2017 a planning board for a French-language university</a> recommended that it be established in downtown Toronto in order to serve the province’s central and southwestern region and then Ontario’s <a href="https://csfontario.ca/en/rapports/ra1718/immigration-francophone-en-ontario/portrait-statistique">culturally diverse</a> Francophonie as a whole.</p>
<p>Simultaneously, and continuous with reflecting this local reality, it is a university that aims to be connected with the world. </p>
<p>As such, the <a href="https://uontario.ca/conseil-de-gouvernance/">board of governors</a> was <a href="https://news.ontario.ca/maesd/en/2018/04/ontario-takes-next-step-toward-french-language-postsecondary-education.html">composed of an equal number of men and women, with independent members reflecting an ethnocultural diversity</a>, different age groups and different skills required to become successfully established. </p>
<h2>Focus on competencies for the future</h2>
<p>The planning board’s report also examined the competencies needed for the labour market and society of the 21st century, as well as innovative practices in post-secondary education. The board recommended that the university not become, as some would have wanted, a scaled-down version of larger conventional universities. </p>
<p>Rather, it recommended a university that is reflective of its time and one that focuses on the strengths and characteristics of its environment — globalized, multilingual, multicultural and francophone urban. Further desired was being a place that contributes to important modern-day issues such as digital and ecological transition, population mobility and equitable economy.</p>
<p>The planning board consulted with leaders in industry, the public and community sectors in order to better grasp what was expected of today’s graduates. </p>
<p>It examined several institutions so as to get a better idea of possible innovative models, including <a href="http://www.uhearst.ca/english">Université de Hearst</a> and <a href="https://questu.ca/about/">Quest University</a> in British Columbia. Inspiration was found in <a href="https://www.fsaa.ulaval.ca/en/study-programs/study-profiles/">Laval University’s practice of having students choose a study profile emphasizing outcome competencies</a>, <a href="https://www.concordia.ca/finearts/research/foyer.html">Concordia University’s</a> efforts <a href="https://www.concordia.ca/finearts/research/foyer.html">to link the arts, sciences and social sciences</a>,
<a href="https://brocku.ca/ccee/experiential-education/">Brock University’s</a> co-op, career and experiential education, and Queen’s University’s <a href="https://careers.queensu.ca/students/wondering-about-career-options/major-maps">“major maps”: a resource that suggests to students possible career outcomes of different types of study</a>.</p>
<p>Planners also looked at U.S. universities (<a href="https://www.goucher.edu/learn/curriculum/">Goucher College</a> and <a href="https://niu.edu/plus/">Northern Illinois University</a>), and compelling international schools such as the <a href="https://www.unibz.it/en/home/profile/">Free University of Bozen-Bolzano</a> in Italy and <a href="https://azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/SitePages/origin-and-purpose.aspx">Azim Premji University</a> in India.</p>
<h2>Vibrant francophone hub</h2>
<p>Taking into account the particularities of the francophone communities that the university intends to serve, the following <a href="https://uontario.ca/futurs-etudiants/">four program areas</a> were chosen: studies in human plurality, studies in urban environments, studies in globalized economy and studies in digital cultures.</p>
<p>A team of professors and experts developed these programs in relationship with a teaching and learning approach resting on four principles: being transdisciplinary, supporting inductive and experiential learning and developing key competencies for now and the future.</p>
<p>The first bachelor’s programs in these areas were developed based on an assessment of over 150 programs of study offered in Québec and Ontario in the same fields.</p>
<p>In Toronto’s city centre, the university would bring together just over a dozen community organizations, institutions and businesses for a vital <a href="https://uontario.ca/le-projet-du-carrefour-francophone-du-savoir-et-de-linnovation/">francophone hub of knowledge and innovation — a vibrant, culturally diverse francophone neighbourhood of sorts in Toronto</a>. </p>
<p>In short, Université de l’Ontario français has positioned itself as a 21st-century university.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/111973/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marc L. Johnson headed the development of the academic programs of l'Université de l'Ontario français in 2018 and is now Project Director for the Francophone Hub of Knowledge and Innovation. He is also a consulting sociologist and a Research Associate at University of Ottawa's Research Chair on Francophonie and Public Policies. </span></em></p>Ontario’s newest university serving a diverse francophone community will focus on the community’s strengths and contribute to major contemporary issues.Marc L. Johnson, Directeur de projet - Carrefour francophone du savoir et de l'innovation, Université de l'Ontario françaisLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1100822019-02-03T17:55:51Z2019-02-03T17:55:51ZTracking the gender gap in Canadian media<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/256452/original/file-20190130-110834-n9wgp8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Gender Tracker Tool is used to see how well Canadian media is representing women’s voices. This stock photo depicts an example of journalists interviewing a female source.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>“I believe that all voices are equal and deserving of equal respect.” That’s what Siri responds when asked if she is a feminist. </p>
<p>We share Siri’s sentiment. That’s why, using computational linguistics — the technology behind voice-activated assistants — we’ve created the <a href="https://gendergaptracker.informedopinions.org/">Gender Gap Tracker</a> to help us analyze how Canadian media represent women’s voices.</p>
<p>Using the Gender Gap Tracker, in partnership with <a href="https://informedopinions.org/">Informed Opinions</a> and supported by Simon Fraser University, we’ve downloaded and analyzed thousands of news articles posted on mainstream media outlets in Canada, including CBC, CTV, Global, <em>Huffington Post</em>, the <em>National Post</em>, the <em>Globe and Mail</em> and the <em>Toronto Star</em>. Our research, relying on the power of computational linguistics, allows us to identify who is mentioned and quoted, providing a very accurate gender breakdown.</p>
<h2>Text mining for social good</h2>
<p>Computational linguistics, and the overlapping field of text mining, have already demonstrated their ability to help bring about meaningful social change. </p>
<p>Applications have been used to analyze video footage from police cameras during traffic stops, showing racial disparity. <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/114/25/6521.short">Police officers use less respectful language with Black versus white community members</a>, regardless of the race of the officer or the severity of the infraction.</p>
<p>As a result of these findings, the Oakland Police Department changed its training modules, and other police departments in the United States are considering comparable initiatives. Similarly, the <a href="https://safelab.socialwork.columbia.edu/">SAFE Lab</a> at Columbia University analyzes social media posts to detect who is likely to engage in gang-related violence. With this information, SAFE Lab has assisted social workers in making decisions about intervention. </p>
<p>Machine translation, another computational linguistics application, has been deployed in crises. The <a href="https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/translation/2010/01/24/announcement-haitian-creole-support-in-bing-translator-and-other-microsoft-translator-powered-services/">English-Haitian Creole translator developed by Microsoft</a> within days of Haiti’s 2010 earthquake was invaluable to first responders. </p>
<p>Computational linguistics has also been used to help <a href="https://www.changedyslexia.org/en">detect and overcome dyslexia</a>, <a href="https://gphin.canada.ca/cepr/aboutgphin-rmispenbref.jsp?language=en_CA">detect epidemic outbreaks</a> in Canada and <a href="http://www.aclweb.org/anthology/U13-1011">to monitor potential fire events</a> in Australia.</p>
<h2>Scraping and organizing data</h2>
<p>The Gender Gap Tracker scrapes and organizes data from all the news stories published on mainstream Canadian media outlets. Then, for each article, we use <a href="https://towardsdatascience.com/named-entity-recognition-with-nltk-and-spacy-8c4a7d88e7da">Named Entity Recognition</a> techniques to find out who is mentioned and who is quoted in the text. To avoid over-counting those who are mentioned or quoted more than once, we then perform a second level of analysis to link all the mentions to the same person. Finally, we assign genders to each person mentioned and quoted. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/256664/original/file-20190131-124043-1fmo6yi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/256664/original/file-20190131-124043-1fmo6yi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=282&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256664/original/file-20190131-124043-1fmo6yi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=282&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256664/original/file-20190131-124043-1fmo6yi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=282&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256664/original/file-20190131-124043-1fmo6yi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256664/original/file-20190131-124043-1fmo6yi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256664/original/file-20190131-124043-1fmo6yi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A graph depicting the most recent results from the Gender Gap Tracker.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The gender identification process assigns people to one of three categories: female, male and unknown. The unknown category includes cases where we’re not sure (is Alex a man or a woman?); where the gender is unknowable because the source is an organization (for example: “The police said they arrested somebody”); and cases where the person is identifiable as an individual, but uses a gender-neutral pronoun (they).</p>
<p>Our existing system performs this analysis for English-language media in Canada. We’re now collaborating with French computational linguists to develop a version analyzing francophone media to be released later this year. We’re also working to go beyond the source categories of politician, expert, witness or victim to distinguish different types of sources and experts being quoted.</p>
<p>For instance, it would be interesting to see the proportion of individuals from each gender group that appear as expert opinion holders versus in other roles. </p>
<h2>Gender parity in media by 2025</h2>
<p>The goal for the research team using the Gender Tracker Tool is to help decision-makers in mainstream media see how well they’re representing women’s voices. Informed Opinions’ goal is to motivate journalists to achieve gender parity in Canadian public discourse by 2025. In this way, we are using computational linguistics techniques as a means to motivate social change.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/256415/original/file-20190130-75085-117clak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/256415/original/file-20190130-75085-117clak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256415/original/file-20190130-75085-117clak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256415/original/file-20190130-75085-117clak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256415/original/file-20190130-75085-117clak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256415/original/file-20190130-75085-117clak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256415/original/file-20190130-75085-117clak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Canadian media need to do better when it comes to gender parity in women’s voices.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AbsolutVision/ Unsplash</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Over the last few months, the Gender Gap Tracker has consistently shown an average of 74 per cent male sources versus 25 per cent female, with roughly one per cent unknown. We can do better than that. Some reporters who track the gender breakdown of their sources are already <a href="https://twitter.com/BenBartenstein/status/1078331704501305344">taking measures</a> to reach parity.</p>
<p>At the same time, the Gender Gap Tracker will provide valuable data to other researchers interested in studying the news. These potential offshoots of research should allow us to assess a range of issues, including whether mainstream media restricts women’s voices to certain topics, and whether they portray those voices in a way that conveys a systematically more positive or more negative sentiment compared to male voices.</p>
<p><em>The Gender Gap Tracker is a collaboration a team of scientists: in addition to ourselves, the team includes Mohammad Mazraeh and Vasundhara Gautam within the Discourse Processing Lab at Simon Fraser University and Alexandre Lopes at SFU’s Big Data Hub, as well as John Simpson of the University of Alberta and Alain Désilets of the National Research Council.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/110082/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maite Taboada receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. This research is supported by Informed Opinions, by Simon Fraser University's Big Data Initiative, by Simon Fraser University's Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, and by NVIDIA Corporation, with the donation of a Titan Xp GPU.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>This research is supported by Informed Opinions, by Simon Fraser University's Big Data Initiative, by Simon Fraser University's Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, and by NVIDIA Corporation, with the donation of a Titan Xp GPU.
The Conversation Canada's editor, Scott White, is on the board of Informed Opinions.
</span></em></p>The Gender Gap Tracker uses computational linguistics techniques to analyze how women are mentioned and quoted in Canadian media.Maite Taboada, Professor of Linguistics, Simon Fraser UniversityFatemeh Torabi Asr, Postdoctoral researcher, Simon Fraser UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1092732019-01-15T23:35:20Z2019-01-15T23:35:20ZIt’s time to change the way we teach English<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253463/original/file-20190111-43529-4dn8bc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C5%2C3539%2C1958&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Luiz Capitulino,11, and his mom Sheyla Do Vale of Brazil embrace after becoming official Canadians during a citizenship ceremony at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa on Monday, Sept. 25, 2017.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As we move into 2019, <a href="https://en.iyil2019.org/">the United Nations’ International Year of Indigenous Languages</a>, it’s time to consider not only how we think about <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trilingual-border-signage-mohawk-1.4899653">Canada’s linguistic identity</a> but also how we might develop best practices for learning and teaching languages. </p>
<p>Since 1969, Canada has recognized <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/official-languages-act-1969">two official languages</a>, English and French, but many people who live in the country are in fact <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/census-family-language-highlights-1.4231841">multilingual</a>. There are approximately <a href="https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/as-sa/98-314-x/98-314-x2011003_3-eng.cfm">60 Indigenous languages</a> and <a href="https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/as-sa/98-314-x/98-314-x2011001-eng.cfm">140 immigrant languages</a> in Canada besides English and French. </p>
<p>For example, <a href="https://youtu.be/9EfvwZ_bOcY">in my own case I use five languages</a>: Portuguese, Spanish, English and a little Italian and French. I was born in Brazil in a family with Italian and Spanish heritage, and learned Portuguese, the country’s official language, at school. Later, I learned English, followed by French after I moved to Montréal. In Canada, stories like mine are more common than we think. </p>
<p>To teach English in a way that acknowledges multiple languages in Canada, we need an approach that values and advances students’ existing language and cultural identities. </p>
<p><em><a href="https://doe.concordia.ca/plurilinguallab/">Plurilingual</a></em> instruction is an approach that doesn’t discourage or shy away from using the learner’s primary language(s) when the new language is introduced. Plurilingual approaches seek to move beyond <em>monolingual</em> approaches, focused on the target language only. </p>
<p>A plurilingual approach can be taken to teach any new language. But in particular, my research has led me to focus on how plurilingual approaches to teaching English could change students’ experiences of language learning.</p>
<h2>English is often a second or third language</h2>
<p>In Canada, 7.7 million residents speak a non-official language as a mother tongue, an increase of <a href="http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/as-sa/98-200-x/2016010/98-200-x2016010-eng.cfm">13.3 per cent between 2011 to 2016</a>, and the number of people speaking <a href="https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/as-sa/98-314-x/98-314-x2011001-eng.cfm">more than one language at home</a> is on the rise. </p>
<p>Using more than one language is not uncommon in Canada, particularly in <a href="https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/as-sa/98-314-x/98-314-x2011001-eng.cfm">metropolitan areas</a> such as Toronto, <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/montreal-is-canadas-most-trilingual-city-census-reveals">Montréal</a> and Vancouver where switching and mixing languages for different purposes is part of everyday life. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253425/original/file-20190111-43525-plsvh3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253425/original/file-20190111-43525-plsvh3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253425/original/file-20190111-43525-plsvh3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253425/original/file-20190111-43525-plsvh3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253425/original/file-20190111-43525-plsvh3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253425/original/file-20190111-43525-plsvh3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253425/original/file-20190111-43525-plsvh3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">East Pender Street, Vancouver. In Canada, using more than one language is not uncommon, particularly in large cities such as Vancouver, Montréal and Toronto, where switching and mixing languages for different purposes is part of everyday life.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Canada is multicultural in addition to being multilingual. Cultural diversity is not only represented by immigrant cultures but also by diversity within Indigenous, anglophone and francophone groups. After all, these groups are both linguistically and culturally diverse in the sense that not everyone who speaks the same language and is part of the same cultural background speaks or behaves the same way. </p>
<p>While Canada recognizes English and French as official languages, the <a href="http://nctr.ca/assets/reports/Calls_to_Action_English2.pdf">Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada</a> has called for the <a href="https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/pch/documents/campaigns/indigenous-languages-legislation/7-Early-Engagement-Report-2017-2018.pdf">revitalization, promotion and preservation of the country’s Indigenous languages</a>. <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/PDF/C-18.7.pdf">The Canadian Multiculturalism Act</a> also mandates that we “preserve and enhance the use of languages other than English and French, while strengthening the status and use of the official languages of Canada.”</p>
<p>But the way English language programs have presented teaching English to students doesn’t acknowledge the diversity of multiple linguistic backgrounds. The category “English as a second language” — so common now it is frequently shorthanded to ESL — ignores the fact that many students find themselves in my situation: they are, in fact, studying English as a third, fourth or fifth language. </p>
<p>Further, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1545-7249.2009.tb00171.x">ESL programs</a> often undervalue the use of more than one language to access information, communicate and use cultural knowledge in interactions with people from diverse backgrounds.</p>
<h2>Benefits to students</h2>
<p>In plurilingual language instruction, teachers focus on developing what linguists call a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amv030">linguistic repertoire</a> rather than the mastery of one language only. </p>
<p>Plurilingual instruction values the use of languages, dialects (or varieties of language) as well as cultural knowledge that students have developed throughout their lives; they build on this knowledge to further develop proficiency in the new target language. </p>
<p>For example, students learn strategies such as <em>translanguaging</em>: when learning words in the target languages, they reflect on similarities and differences in other languages. </p>
<p>And, as the language learner’s confidence grows with switching between languages, this also develops the person’s ability and confidence to make language choices and manage language risks in socially and linguistically diverse social settings. </p>
<p>Thus, researchers believe that <a href="https://rm.coe.int/168069d29b">embedded with plurilingual competence is also <em>pluricultural</em> competence</a>: learners experience greater comfort with, and enjoyment in, the fluid linguistic and cultural demands and opportunities of communicating in diverse societies. </p>
<p>While plurilingual instruction is relatively new in Canada, many countries including Uganda, Spain and Mexico have introduced plurilingual instruction and reported benefits of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-38893-9_13-1">linking linguistic and cultural diversity in language education</a>. </p>
<p>Studies based in Canada alone suggest that when teachers use a plurilingual approach language students gain opportunities to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.116">personally identify with multiple languages</a> and value <a href="https://doi.org/10.20360/G2901N">multiple strategies</a> for language learning. Students also become <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.111">confident and skilled in using different languages or a language mix depending on their location</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253428/original/file-20190111-43544-ufc3mn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253428/original/file-20190111-43544-ufc3mn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253428/original/file-20190111-43544-ufc3mn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253428/original/file-20190111-43544-ufc3mn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253428/original/file-20190111-43544-ufc3mn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253428/original/file-20190111-43544-ufc3mn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253428/original/file-20190111-43544-ufc3mn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bilingual menu at Schwartz’s Deli, Montréal.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In my most <a href="http://hdl.handle.net/1807/91806">recent study</a>, I examined plurilingual instruction in comparison to regular instruction that emphasized one language only (monolingual) in a university English language program in Toronto.</p>
<p>I recruited seven teachers who taught the same program to 129 students but used different approaches. </p>
<p>After four months, students who received plurilingual instruction reported it was beneficial for the development of cognition, linguistic and cultural empathy, relatability, critical thinking and willingness to learn more languages, among other benefits. </p>
<p>All of the teachers in my study showed preference for plurilingual instruction and reported that it challenges cultural stereotypes and encourages students to be active, engaged learners who are empowered and confident with their own language use.</p>
<p>While more research is needed to confirm these results, future research could also be done in classrooms where French is taught as the official language, or where any languages are taught to help our understanding of benefits of plurilingual instruction.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/109273/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Angelica Galante has received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and The International Research Foundation for English Language Education. She is affiliated with Concordia University's Department of Education, Plurilingual Lab and the Centre for the Study of Learning and Performance.</span></em></p>The language learning approach called “plurilingualism” empowers people to draw on many languages and cultural modes of communicating.Angelica Galante, Assistant Professor in Applied Linguistics, Concordia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1095622019-01-09T22:32:26Z2019-01-09T22:32:26ZNew Brunswick’s linguistic divide is a microcosm of Canada<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253055/original/file-20190109-32142-73k016.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs is seen in this September 2018 photo. Higgs won a minority government, and must confront both language tensions and economic hardship in his province.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The fever pitch of this year’s federal election conjecture and the obsession with the current political chaos in the United States may drown out the tale of government survival in one of Canada’s smallest provinces. </p>
<p>The past few months have been remarkable in New Brunswick politics, filled with foreshadowing of the year to come. On Nov. 30, the Progressive Conservative throne speech was passed by a vote of 25-23 and the government finally <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/higgs-confidence-vote-throne-speech-2018-election-1.4927686">won the confidence of the legislature</a> — 67 days after the hotly contested September election. </p>
<p>As with most minority governments in recent memory, the drama did not end on that somewhat anti-climactic confidence vote. What happens now has similarities to some of the most familiar plotlines in Canadian politics.</p>
<p>The 2018 New Brunswick election resulted in the first minority government in the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/blaine-higgs-minority-government-opinion-jamie-gillies-1.4890457">province since 1920</a>. Two minor parties with historic results hold the balance of power (the three Green and three People’s Alliance seats), and the party with the most seats (the PCs) lost the popular vote by five points to the second-place Liberals.</p>
<h2>New Brunswick a microcosm</h2>
<p>One of Canada’s first four provinces, New Brunswick has traditionally represented a microcosm of Confederation’s linguistic balancing act —and 2019 will find these efforts more politicized than ever. </p>
<p>Since 1960 and the first Acadian <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/louis-joseph-robichaud">Premier Louis Robichaud</a>, the balance has been fragile, often exasperated by the alignment of the two main political parties along linguistic and regional lines.</p>
<p>The Liberal Party is dominant in the mostly French-speaking, northern part of the province, while the Progressive Conservative Party relies on support in the mostly English, southern part of New Brunswick.</p>
<p>Canada’s national language divide has hit a relative lull with the collapse of the <a href="https://www.capebretonpost.com/news/regional/aging-parti-quebecois-seeks-to-rebuild-after-crushing-election-defeat-246764/">Parti Quebecois</a> and the <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-bloc-quebecois-could-change-name-as-sovereigntist-party-looks-to/">Bloc Quebecois’</a> efforts to rebuild. But now New Brunswick’s language politics have vaulted ahead of the province’s perpetual focus on its teetering economic crisis to potentially become the central political issue in 2019.</p>
<p>Except for a Liberal victory in Saint John Harbour (city councillor Gerry Lowe won by 11 votes in a result that is <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/saint-john-harbour-election-court-ogden-vanbuskirk-1.4954928">currently before the courts</a>), the province is now split along linguistic Liberal and Conservative lines (notwithstanding the insurgent Green Party and People’s Alliance Party’s legislative presence). </p>
<p>For those outside New Brunswick, you are roughly in Liberal country on the Trans-Canada Highway until you pull off to tour the <a href="https://www.tripadvisor.ca/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g1093799-d1819713-i283245922-Covered_Bridge_Potato_Chip-Hartland_New_Brunswick.html">Covered Bridge Chip factory in Hartland</a> (former riding of long-serving Premier Richard Hatfield). Then you enter Tory ridings almost all the way to the Nova Scotia border except for another remarkable development from 2018 — multiple Green ridings, including <a href="https://www.sackvilletribunepost.com/news/local/updated-going-green-meet-the-new-memramcook-tantramar-mla-244327/">Memramcook-Tantramar</a> (home to Mount Allison University).</p>
<h2>Minority governing</h2>
<p>In this dramatically politically divided province, the challenge of governing in a minority situation has been compounded with political pitfalls and policy obstacles at every turn.</p>
<p>Heading into 2019 and the 50th anniversary of official bilingualism in the province, Premier Blaine Higgs faces two major decisions directly related to the language file: Hosting the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/2021-francophonie-games-explainer-2021-1.4946072">2021 Francophonie Games</a> and <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/flemming-paramedics-bilingual-hiring-ambulance-new-brunswick-1.4965600">the staffing of Ambulance NB</a>. </p>
<p>Staffing shortages at Ambulance NB, aggravated by <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/atv-fatal-crash-haut-lameque-ambulance-delay-medavie-1.4884611">tragic accidents</a>, have been a problem for months and became a key campaign issue, one that galvanized the People’s Alliance and their supporters. At the heart of the controversy is a push for language requirements to take a back seat when it comes to filling paramedic jobs. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253056/original/file-20190109-32151-1rp8hjx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253056/original/file-20190109-32151-1rp8hjx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253056/original/file-20190109-32151-1rp8hjx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253056/original/file-20190109-32151-1rp8hjx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253056/original/file-20190109-32151-1rp8hjx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253056/original/file-20190109-32151-1rp8hjx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253056/original/file-20190109-32151-1rp8hjx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Kris Austin, head of the People’s Alliance of New Brunswick, speaks to the media in October 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/James West</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Soon after being sworn in, the PC government loosened bilingual hiring requirements in areas of the province where one language was dominant. While briefly placating People’s Alliance leader Kris Austin, the decision almost cost Higgs his deputy premier and lone francophone cabinet minister <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/gauvin-questions-future-pcs-1.4956691">Robert Gauvin</a>.</p>
<p>News that the budget for the <a href="https://www.jeux.francophonie.org/">Francophonie Games</a> had ballooned to almost seven times what was initially proposed did not emerge until after the Higgs government was sworn in, and it was a holdover issue from the former Liberal government of Brian Gallant.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, the ongoing issue puts the anglophone premier (and former member of the anti-official bilingualism Confederation of Regions Party) in the position of having to ponder <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/4760394/francophonie-games-federal/">the cancellation of the Francophonie Games</a> to be hosted in Dieppe and Moncton. </p>
<h2>Austerity measures</h2>
<p>Higgs’ decision will be made in light of a pledge to tighten the province’s purse strings. The government began that process in December, decreasing the previous Liberal government’s capital <a href="https://huddle.today/higgs-government-shelves-planned-capital-projects-like-new-n-b-museum-in-saint-john/">budget by 30 per cent</a>. </p>
<p>As Higgs deals with the challenges of governing a bilingual province, he also faces the heat of creditors’ threats to lower New Brunswick’s credit rating. </p>
<p>And so as 2019 dawns, Higgs must address economic pressures in the midst of linguistic tensions. </p>
<p>The new premier should not only look to the lessons of his predecessors in the New Brunswick premier’s office, but also to prime ministerial decision-making of the past, when Canada’s leaders confronted myriad language crises amid economic turmoil. It’s not just a New Brunswick tradition, but a well-established Canadian one.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/109562/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>J.P. Lewis does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New Brunswick’s language politics have vaulted ahead of its teetering economic crisis to potentially become the central political issue in 2019.J.P. Lewis, Associate Professor, History and Politics, University of New BrunswickLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1089792018-12-18T22:00:15Z2018-12-18T22:00:15ZDoug Ford is wrong about minority-language services<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251292/original/file-20181218-27755-8crg9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ontario Premier Doug Ford arrives to speak in Toronto on Dec. 12, 2018. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Ontario government’s proposed cuts to French-language services have elicited significant political backlash, including from within Progressive Conservative ranks and from the anglophone community in Québec. </p>
<p>Others have expressed support for the government’s decision to abolish the office of the French-language services commissioner and rescind its campaign promise to open a French-language university in Toronto.</p>
<p>In justifying the cuts, Premier Doug Ford has drawn parallels between Franco-Ontarians and Anglo-Québecers. <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/4677344/quebec-premier-doug-ford-meeting/">He argued</a>: “We have 10 colleges and universities with 300 programs. Québec has three (anglophone universities).”</p>
<p>Of course, this comparison treats French-language program offerings in Ontario as equivalent to an entire post-secondary institution such as McGill University. By these standards, most universities in Québec qualify as English institutions because they offer English-language programs.</p>
<p>But can these parallels really be drawn between the two groups? Are Franco-Ontarians asking for too much relative to their anglophone counterparts in Québec? Do Anglo-Québecers receive the short end of the stick from their provincial government?</p>
<p>The answer is no on all three counts.</p>
<h2>‘Uphill battle’</h2>
<p>In the areas of socio-economic resources, service availability and cultural vitality, it is Franco-Ontarians who face an uphill battle for resources and recognition.</p>
<p>The first asymmetry for Franco-Ontarians concerns socio-economic resources. Despite their minority status, Anglo-Québecers historically occupied privileged positions as the province’s economic and social elite. In the process, they developed <a href="https://qcgn.ca/us/">robust organizations</a> to protect their cultural and linguistic rights. </p>
<p>Today, this <a href="https://www.cdhowe.org/sites/default/files/attachments/research_papers/mixed/backgrounder_103_english.pdf">socio-economic divide has all but disappeared</a>, but an educational <a href="http://www.santecom.qc.ca/Bibliothequevirtuelle/INSPQ/9782550654155.pdf">attainment gap remains</a>. For example, the <a href="https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2016/08/28/pourquoi-les-anglophones-reussissent-mieux-a-lecole">high school graduation rate</a> in Québec stands at 84 per cent for anglophones compared with 73 per cent for francophones.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251298/original/file-20181218-27761-1g1mp15.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251298/original/file-20181218-27761-1g1mp15.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251298/original/file-20181218-27761-1g1mp15.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251298/original/file-20181218-27761-1g1mp15.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251298/original/file-20181218-27761-1g1mp15.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251298/original/file-20181218-27761-1g1mp15.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251298/original/file-20181218-27761-1g1mp15.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Franco-Ontarians protest cuts to French services by the Ontario government in Ottawa on Dec. 1, 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Patrick Doyle</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In Ontario, <a href="http://www.opha.on.ca/getmedia/f1d12c65-95ed-494e-8ab7-9b6c8b556bac/HealthofFrancophones-EN.pdf.aspx?ext=.pdf">francophones rate</a> their health lower and report lower average incomes than the anglophone population. A <a href="https://csfontario.ca/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/FLSC_report_french_health_planning_2009.pdf">2009 report</a> found: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Much remains to be done to improve the health and well-being of the Franco-Ontarian population and to bring its health and quality of life to a level comparable to that of the general population of Ontario.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The second factor that differentiates official-language minority groups is the availability of public services in their respective languages. </p>
<p>Here, Anglo-Québecers appear to have the upper hand. As legal expert <a href="http://www.lawjournal.mcgill.ca/userfiles/other/5494214-Silver.pdf">Richard Silver explains</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“The right of English-speaking people in Québec to receive health and social services in their language was first enshrined in legislation in 1986. However, English-speaking Québecers have received services in English for generations.”</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Bilingual doctors</h2>
<p>In terms of medical services, almost all hospitals on the island of Montréal are bilingual, and 69 per cent of doctors in the city <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/91-550-x/2008001/part-partie2-eng.htm">use English regularly</a> at work. In the Québec City region, 76.3 per cent of doctors are able to speak English with patients. In largely rural eastern Québec, the figure is 78.8 per cent.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251296/original/file-20181218-27764-3r5d50.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251296/original/file-20181218-27764-3r5d50.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251296/original/file-20181218-27764-3r5d50.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251296/original/file-20181218-27764-3r5d50.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251296/original/file-20181218-27764-3r5d50.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251296/original/file-20181218-27764-3r5d50.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251296/original/file-20181218-27764-3r5d50.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251296/original/file-20181218-27764-3r5d50.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Most doctors in Quebec are bilingual. But Franco-Ontarians have trouble finding doctors in Ontario who speak French.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rawpixel/Unsplash</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Conversely, there is only one French-language hospital in Ontario and it was <a href="https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/sos-montfort-the-monumental-victory-that-helped-protect-language-rights-in-canada">nearly shut down</a> in 1999. Roughly <a href="https://csfontario.ca/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/FLSC_report_french_health_planning_2009.pdf">half of Franco-Ontarians say</a> that gaining access to health services in their language was either very difficult or impossible. Seventy-four per cent of Franco-Ontarians say they rarely have access — or no access at all — to hospital emergency services in French.</p>
<p>Québec also features three storied universities that operate primarily in English: McGill, Concordia and Bishop’s. These are complemented by substantial English-language offerings at Québec’s 15 French-language universities. </p>
<p>For example, Université de Montréal offers <a href="https://admission.umontreal.ca/en/graduate-programs/also-suitable-for-students-not-fluent-in-French">16 graduate-degree programs</a> for students who do not speak French.</p>
<p>Ontario, of course, has no stand-alone French-language university. It does have the University of Ottawa, a bilingual institution. But when Ford refers to the more than 300 French-language programs offered in Ontario, he is including offerings geared to non-francophones who want to learn the language.</p>
<h2>Assimiliation ahead?</h2>
<p>Finally, perhaps the most important asymmetry concerns each group’s linguistic and cultural vitality. Despite <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/pastagate-leaves-bad-taste-in-quebeckers-mouths/article9053403/">sensationalist stories</a> about language police in Québec, English does not appear to be at risk of disappearing. </p>
<p>While some anglophones <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-immigration-provincial-jobs-1.4433749">are leaving Québec for economic reasons</a>, the overall <a href="https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/canada-news-pmn/2016-census-reveals-anglophone-population-in-quebec-rising-despite-language-laws">anglophone population is rising</a>. English is also <a href="https://www.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/ressources/sociolinguistique/etudes2012/20121126_synthese.pdf">disproportionately</a> the primary workplace language in Québec.</p>
<p>Conversely, francophones constitute a shrinking minority surrounded by 350 million anglophones in North America. Franco-Ontarians, in particular, have a relatively low <a href="http://ontario400.ca/en/statistics/">intergenerational language retention rate</a>. For example, only 19.6 per cent of children with a francophone father and non-francophone mother identify as French-speaking.</p>
<p>And as <a href="http://www.icrml.ca/images/stories/documents/en/Richard_Y_Bourhis/chapitre_10_goldbloom_pratte_fraser.pdf">Sen. André Pratte explains</a>: “Today, 40 per cent of Ontarians who have French as their mother tongue speak mostly English at home.”</p>
<p>Minority-language rights in Canada exist to promote the cultural survival of official-language minorities as well as the ability to speak and live in the official language of one’s choice. Imprudent cuts to minority-language services — in French or English — risk dismantling institutional resources and jeopardize cultural and linguistic vitality.</p>
<p>Doug Ford’s comparisons of Franco-Ontarians and Anglo-Québecers are flawed whether they stem from malice or from ignorance. The parallels he uses cannot be drawn to justify depriving an official-language minority of rights and services.</p>
<p>Such cuts would threaten the quality of life and constitutional rights of Anglo-Québecers. For Franco-Ontarians, they could also lead to assimilation.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>An <a href="http://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/december-2018/fords-false-logic-minority-language-services/">earlier version</a> of this article was published in Policy Options</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/108979/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jacob Robbins-Kanter receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p>Ontario’s premier is drawing faulty parallels between Franco-Ontarians and Anglo-Quebecers when it comes to the services available to them in each province.Jacob Robbins-Kanter, PhD Candidate and Teaching Fellow, Queen's University, OntarioLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1085142018-12-11T12:17:05Z2018-12-11T12:17:05ZConflict in Cameroon is extracting a heavy toll on ordinary people<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249637/original/file-20181210-76986-1u81riy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cameroon's President Paul Biya being sworn in for a seventh consecutive term on the 6th November 2018.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA-EFE/Etienne MainimoO</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has let Cameroon’s President Paul Biya <a href="https://allafrica.com/stories/201812070518.html">know</a> that his nation will no longer host the 2019 African Nations Cup competition. The decision is a humiliation. Once a powerhouse of Africa’s football, Cameroon’s reputation had dropped significantly. </p>
<p>CAF’s decision serves as a reminder that the country is sinking, and something must be done. </p>
<p>Until a few years ago Cameroon was a nation on the move. Despite its many political, economic and social problems, the country was peaceful, attracted people from all over for tourism, business, and education.</p>
<p>For example the University of Dayton had, over two decades, run immersion programmes in the country, and so did many other <a href="https://www.amazon.com/African-Immersion-American-Students-Cameroon/dp/1498502377/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1544384992&sr=1-1&keywords=african+immersion">American universities</a>. Cameroon was also an international centre where major conferences, symposia, and cultural activities <a href="https://www.facebook.com/yaounde.business/photos/a.1123314361034640/1218116334887775/?type=1&theater">took place</a>. </p>
<p>The nation was a major banking centre, as well as host to Nigerian businessman Aliko Dangote’s many activities, and more recently the proposed site of <a href="https://auto.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/industry/cameroon-agrees-158-mn-car-manufacturing-deal-with-india-and-china/47651785">car assembly plants</a> to be constructed by Indian and Chinese businesses. And the list goes on.</p>
<p>But the Anglophone conflict has taken its toll. A peaceful protest which began three years ago against the marginalisation of Anglophone Cameroon quickly turned violent as some <a href="https://theconversation.com/history-explains-why-cameroon-is-at-war-with-itself-over-language-and-culture-85401">called for the region’s complete secession</a> from Cameroon to form the Ambazonia Republic. As a result Cameroon’s military force and the Ambazonia Defence force have been locked in a deadly embrace with no end in sight. </p>
<p>Already in the 7th term of office as president, Biya’s obsession with <a href="https://theconversation.com/biya-needs-to-devise-a-monumental-shift-if-cameroon-is-to-turn-the-corner-106254">a military solution</a> to the crisis has exacerbated tensions, as well as the misery of ordinary people. </p>
<p>Beneath CAF’s rationale that Cameroon was ill-ready, ill-equipped and ill-prepared to host the games was a sense that the country is deeply insecure. The cities of Limbe and Buea in the heartland of Anglophone Cameroon were going to host the games. But <a href="https://cameroondailyjournal.com/anglophone-crisis-in-cameroonkumba-buea-bambili-the-macabre-results-of-clashes-on-monday">routine</a> kidnappings, attacks, road closings, and killings in the region would have undermined the essence of the games.</p>
<p>CAF’s announcement coincided with the failure of a last-ditch effort by His Eminence Cardinal Christian Tumi to broker peace and convene an All Anglophone Conference. But the <a href="https://cameroondailyjournal.com/ambazonia-war-cameroon-misses-a-golden-opportunity-to-pull-out-of-the-anglophone-crisis/">culture of threats</a>, and Cameroon government’s failure to grant a permit for the conference to take place meant that it was doomed.</p>
<p>Ordinary people have called on Cardinal Tumi not to give up. The conference, they note, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxgOVFwEL6Q">must go on</a>. Many Cameroonians are desperate for a <a href="https://www.afrinik.com/women-call-for-dialogue-and-demand-peace-in-cameroon">peaceful solution to the conflict</a>.</p>
<p>As the brickbats fell, conditions for communities in the Anglophone region continue to deteriorate. And while debates continue to rage about the rights and wrongs of widely publicised suggested solutions such as federalism, decentralisation, and secession, ordinary people continue to chafe in their daily lives. </p>
<h2>What’s being lost</h2>
<p>As the warring factions stand eyeball to eyeball waiting to see who will blink first, few are asking how the outcome of the struggle will change the lives of ordinary people in the region.</p>
<p>Yet the impact has been enormous. There are immense economic and social consequences which have transformed communities and their way of life. </p>
<p>Cameroonians who would go home for Christmas holidays and other festivities no longer do so. Their spending stimulated the economy. In email correspondences and responses to questionnaires with people in Kumba and Buea, local people are noting that Cameroonians living in other countries are no longer coming home for their holidays. As a result businesses, such as hotels, are barely holding on. </p>
<p>There has been more profound economic consequences. The region’s main agrobusiness facility, the Cameroon Development Corporation, the heart of the region’s economy, <a href="http://www.cameroonconcordnews.com/southern-cameroons-crisis-cdc-shuts-down-key-estates">is in ruins</a>. Plantations which produce palm oil are no longer operational. Workers at banana plantations are <a href="https://observers.france24.com/en/20180829-banana-plantation-anglophone-cameroon-attack">brutalised</a> and rubber processors have been repeatedly <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/armed-groups-attack-cameroon-plantation-workers/4643961.html">attacked</a>. Families that depended on cocoa for livelihood now face a <a href="http://www.cameroonintelligencereport.com/southern-cameroons-crisis-hits-palm-oil-cocoa-production/">life of destitution</a>.</p>
<p>Another disturbing aspect of the conflict is the gradual erosion of key parts of people’s culture. Funeral celebrations are a significant aspect of Cameroonian culture. But in conversations with people, it appears these festivities are disappearing. Irrespective of where people reside, Cameroonians typically prefer their burial sites to be in their village of origin. But not anymore. Increasingly, people are buried anywhere possible. </p>
<p>Visits to burial sites of friends and family members have turned into a deadly experience. For example, going to Lewoh in Lebialem, <a href="http://www.cameroonintelligencereport.com/battle-for-lebialem-huge-explosion-rocks-lewoh-near-a-catholic-school/">is unthinkable</a> because of the violence.</p>
<p>And there is more. In communities in Anglophone Cameroon, basic services such as trash collection <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxgOVFwEL6Q">no longer exist</a>. Trash is piling up in the cities. And corpses can be seen on roadways. Businesses that traditionally operated in the evenings have been bankrupted. </p>
<p>The list of hardship goes on. School buildings remain empty. And both refugees and internally displaced people are nowhere close to returning to their homes. </p>
<h2>Time to re-assess</h2>
<p>The recurring accusation is <em>La Republique</em> has <a href="https://www.bareta.news/cameroun-army-chief-admits-atrocities-civilians/">caused these problems</a>. But it’s not all the fault of <em>La Republique</em>. Given that some of the attacks are undertaken by Anglophones, they have become accomplices to the violence. No wonder ordinary people are increasingly asking more direct questions about the benefits of the revolt they were promised.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/108514/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julius A. Amin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Ordinary people are being deeply affected by the continued violence tearing apart Cameroon.Julius A. Amin, Professor, Department of History, University of DaytonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1079852018-11-30T16:24:56Z2018-11-30T16:24:56ZIt’s here: La Conversation Canada<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/248878/original/file-20181204-34134-1c9tbo9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C163%2C3277%2C1763&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The view from the Montréal office of La Conversation Canada.</span> </figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/ca-fr"><em>La Conversation Canada</em></a> has arrived. It’s the French-language edition of a new Canadian journalism publication that has attracted millions of readers since its launch last year.</p>
<p>The model of <em>The Conversation</em> combines academia with journalism. Academic authors work with professional journalists as their editors to produce research-based explanatory journalism and expert-based analysis for the general public.</p>
<p><em>The Conversation Canada</em> launched in mid-2017. More than 1,300 articles — viewed more than 20 million times — have been published since then.</p>
<p><em>The Conversation</em> was started in Australia in 2011 and there are now editions in the United Kingdom, the United States, Africa, Indonesia, Spain and France. All of the content produced by the global <em>Conversation</em> network, including Canada, is published under creative commons licence — meaning it can be republished by any media outlet anywhere.</p>
<p>Dozens of French-language academics from Canada have already been published by working with <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/fr">The Conversation France</a></em> and many have had their work translated into English and published by <em>The Conversation Canada</em>. But from now on, authors from Québec universities and other francophone and bilingual institutions across the country will have their own publication.</p>
<p>“We believe there is a strong contribution to the public debate to be made by our faculty and we encourage them to contribute articles to this new and promising alternative media,” says Sophie Langlois, director of Université de Montréal’s communications and public relations office. “As the first francophone university in Canada to support <em>La Conversation</em>, we hope our voices will reach out to the rest of Canada.”</p>
<p>Martine Turenne is editor of <em>La Conversation Canada</em>. She has an extensive background in Québec media: TC Media (Les Affaires and Commerce), Québecor (Le Journal de Montréal, TVA-Argent), L’actualité and Radio-Canada.</p>
<p>“I am very proud to launch La Conversation Canada,” said Turenne. “More than ever, there’s a need for relevant explanatory journalism based on solid research and facts. We’re already working with many francophone academics from Québec universities and others across Canada and we look forward to publishing interesting and timely articles.”</p>
<p>Plans to launch a French-language version have been in the works for months.</p>
<p>“We’re excited to offer francophone academics in Québec and across Canada the chance to be part of this great new model of journalism that has transformed knowledge mobilization from the world of academia to the general public,” said David Estok, chair of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/team#board-of-directors">board of directors</a> for <em>The Conversation Canada/La Conversation Canada</em>.</p>
<p><em>The Conversation Canada</em> was founded by professors Mary Lynn Young and Alfred Hermida of the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of British Columbia.</p>
<p>The launch of <em>La Conversation Canada</em> wouldn’t have been possible without the support of our partners, including the Université de Montréal, Concordia University, UQAM and the entire Université du Québec network, Bishop’s University, Laurentian University, the <a href="https://www.fondationchagnon.org/en/index.aspx">Lucie and André Chagnon Foundation</a>, the <a href="https://lawson.ca/">Lawson Foundation</a>, the <a href="http://mwmccain.ca/">Margaret and Wallace McCain Family Foundation</a>, the office of the <a href="http://www.scientifique-en-chef.gouv.qc.ca/en/le-scientifique-en-chef/">Chief Scientist of Québec</a>, <a href="https://www.cihi.ca/en">CIHI</a>, <a href="https://www.genomecanada.ca/">Genome Canada</a>, <a href="https://www.univcan.ca/">Universities Canada</a>, <a href="http://www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca/">SSHRC</a> and the <a href="https://brookfieldinstitute.ca/">Brookfield Institute</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/107985/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
A unique model of journalism based on academic research and fact-based analysis is now being published in both of Canada’s official languagesScott White, CEO | Editor-in-Chief, The Conversation CanadaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.