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In this paper I will briefly outline how sociology has interpreted the French Canadian collectivity from the end of the last century to the present time. I argue that the French-speaking collectivity in Canada has been ascribed, both successively and simultaneously, the characters of race, ethnic group, society, and nation through the prism of sociology. The cultural specificity of this collectivity has been alternately perceived as either a stigma or as an element of pride. My paper has three parts: Léon Gérin and Marius Barbeau, or "the Quebec difference" as a handicap; the External perspectives of Horace Miner, Everett C. Hughes, and the Laval School; and what "Quebecitude" (the cultural specificity of the Quebec character) means. These three perspectives correspond to three periods in the history of Quebec sociology: The pioneers (before 1939); the institutionalization of (academic) sociology (1940-1969); and the "nationalization" of Quebec sociology (1970 until now). The 1960s and the 1970s are viewed herein as the "Golden Age" of sociology in Quebec. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the mode of entry into adulthood of two cohorts of young Quebecers born between 1942-1951 (lyric generation) and between 1962-1971 (X generation). Examining the net effect of labour market casualization with the help of the General Social Survey 2001's retrospective data, the goal of this paper is to answer this specific question: to what extent do the 1980- 90 economic mutations explain the extension of youth and the desynchronization of life courses? The analysis reveals that the casualization of employment is not highly related to the mutations of life courses. In fact, the desynchronization of life courses can be better explained by noneconomic transformations such as the longer length of education and the easing of certain normative constraints within Quebec society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores cohabitational living in Quebec, Canada and the influence of religion on its acceptance. The author proposes that because the majority of Quebec's French speaking population was Catholic, and the church's strict doctrines on sexuality and marriage were inconvenient to modern Canadian society, the gradual abandonment of traditional Catholic values opened the door for cohabitation. The author claims that the path along with any society proceeds toward cohabitation should be examined in the political, legal, social and institutional contexts.