Le Modèle Centre-Périphérie Appliqué À L'est Du Québec
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LE MODELE CENTRE-PERIPHERIE APPLIQUE A L'EST DU QUEBEC by Alain Gustave Gagnon B.A., UniversitE du QuEbec 3 Rimouski, 1975 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLEMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in the Depart ement 0 f Political Science @ Alain Gustave Gagnon 1978 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY September 1978 All rights reserved. This thesis may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. ii APPROVAL Name: Alain Gustave Gagnon Degree: Master of Arts Title of Thesis: Le mod2le centre-pGriphGrie appliqus 2 1'Est du Qugbec. Examining Commit tee: Chairperson: Dr. P.aul Warwick Dr. Jacques Benjamin Senior Supervisor Dr. Maureen Cove11 Dr. Alan C. Cairns External Examiner Professor Department of Political Science University of British Columbia Date Approved: / PARTIAL COPY RIGHT LICENSE I hereby grant to Simon Fraser University the right to lend my thesis or dissertation (the title of which is shown below) to users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the library of any other university, or other educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. I further agree that permission for mu1 ti ple copying of this thesi s for schol arly purposes may be granted by me or the Dean of Graduate Studies. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Ti tl e of Thesi s/Di ssertation : - A,:a / If- 4 ' h&LA- u-I Author : (signature) (name) ('date) iii ABSTRACT Political scientists have utilized the center-periphery framework for a better understanding of politics at the international level, aiming primarily at analysing the situation of the developing countries. This study, huwevei, attempts to demonstrate the relevance of the center-periphery framework when applied to the subnational level, using the Eastern Quebec area as n case study. Eastern Quebec is an area of 16,000 square miles located three hundred miles northeast of Montreal. The regional capital of this area is Rimouski and has a population of 30,000 people. The region itself has a population of 300, no0 . In order to demonstrate the applicability of the center-periphery frame- work to the internal politics of a singlc country, this study has been divided into theoretical and analytical chapters. The first chapter identifies lhc concepts of dependence, underdevelopment, and disinterest as underlying compu- nents of the center-periphery framework. Applying these concepts, the study finds that Eastern Quebec possesses characteristics similar to those of develop- ing nations, including economic, political , institutionc*L, cultural and psycllo - logical dependence. A situation of underdevelopment has beiln observed in Eastern Quebec. Moreover, the statistical and structural approaches indic,ate that the differences between Eastern Quebec and the developing nations are dif- ferences of degree rather than kind. The study indicates that such factors as the Catholic church, the English conquest, the introduction of the regional economy into the capitalist system, the crisis of the 1930's and governinent policies are responsible for both the area's dependency and for its underde- velopment. This case study challenges some theories of political science. An ana- lysis of provincial government policies based on the notion of growth centers and growth poles demonstrates that the diffusionist theory does not apply to Eastern Quebec. In fact, it is the reverse process that has occurred. That is to say, rather than prosperity "trickling down" from center to periphery, it is the resources of the periphery that have been transferred to the centre, increasing the prosperity of the latter at the expense of the former. Rostow's unilinear theory has also been challenged since Eastern Quebec has not follow- ed his stages of economic growth (traditional society, preconditions for take- off, take-off, drive toward maturity and high mass consumption) in a sequential way. In fact, Eastern Quebec has passed directly from traditional society to the age of high mass consumption. The study has also revealed that the improve- ment of the system of communications and mass media has had long-term negative effects on the development of the area, thus contradicting the popular belief and the theory of Groenman that improved communications always have positive effects on development. Finally, this case study has opposed Gunder Frank's assertion that a It crisis period" (war-time, starvation) in a country decreases the level of dependence of the backward areas. This has been proved to be true in the short run, but not in the long run. For instance, it has been shown that the world depression in the 1930's increased the dependency in Eastern Quebec. In conclusion, this study argues that the differences noted between under- developed countries and Eastern Quebec are not of such significance as to in- validate the application of the center-periphery framework to the study of this region, and suggests the application of this framework to the study of other peripheral regions in "developed" countries. v PRECIS es politicologues se sont principalement servis de I. grille d'analyse centre-periph6rie dans l'Gtude des pays en voie de d6veloppement afin d'expli- ques les phSnomSnes politiques sur le plan international. Cette recherche veut cependant demontrer la validit6 de la grille d'analyse centre-p6riph6rie lorsqu'elle est utilis6e au niveau infranational. La rZgion de 1'Est du QuGbe constitue notre Ztude de cas. Cette region couvre environ 16,000 milles carr6, et est situCe fi trois cents milles de Montreal. La capitale regionale dont la population se chiffre 2 30,000 habitants est Rimouski. La rGgion ellc- m&e a une population de 300,000. Afin d'etablir la validit6 de la grille d'analyse centre-p6riph6rie au niveau de la politique interne d'un pays, cette 6tude se r6partit en chapitres thGoriques et analytiques. Le premier chapitre identifie les concepts de dGpendance, de sous-d6veloppement et de d6sintGressement cornme 6tant les prin- cipales composantes de la grille d'analyse. En se servant de ces concepts, 1'Btude a d6montr6 que 1'Est du QuGbec possede des caractgristiques semblables S celles que l'on retrouve dans les pays en voie de d6veloppement, 2 savoir un 6tat de d6pendance Gconomique, politique, institutionnelle, culturellc et psychologique. Une situation de sous-d6veloppement a aussi 6tG enregistr6e. Par ailleurs, les approches crit6riologique et structurale indiquent que les differences perques entre 1'Est du Qu6bec et les pays en voie de d6veloppement sont des differences d'intensit6 ~luti3tque de nature. Cette Studc indiaue que 1'Eglise catholique, la conqugte anglaise, llintEgration de 116conomie rggionale au systiiime capitaliste, la crise Gconomique des annges 1930 et les politiques gouvernementales sont responsables de la d6pendance et du sous- dEveloppement de la r6gion. Cette 6tude remet en question quelques th6ories g6n6ralement acceptees en science politique. Une analyse se rapportant aux politiques gouverne- mentales sur le plan provincial r6vGle que la th6orie diffusionniste ne s'applique pas 2 1'Est du Qu6bec. En fait, c'est le processus inverse qui se pr6sente; c'est-5-dire, qu'au lieu de voir la prosp6rit6 se propager du centre €ila pCriphGrie, ce sont plutst les ressources de la p6riph6rie qui sont venues enrichir le centre au depens de cette derni2re. La th6orie uniling- aire dsfendue principalement par Rostow a 6t6 remise en cause 6tant donne que 1'Est du QuGbec n'a pas respect6 les stages de la croissance Gconomique (socists traditionnelle, conditions pr6alables au dgmarrage, demarrage, pro- gr@svers la maturit6 et 2re de la consommation) dans l'ordre qu'il avait Gtabli. En fait, 1'Est du Qu6bec est pass6 directement de la sociGt6 tra- ditionnelle 2 la soci6t6 de consomation. Cette 6tude a aussi montr6 que 11am61ioration apport6e au systsme de communications et aux mass media a eu des effets n6gatifs sur le d6veloppement 2 long terme de la rggion. Cette remarque contredit la croyance g6n6raleY de m2me que la th6orie de Groenman voulant que 11am61ioration des communications a toujours des effets positifs sur le d6veloppement d'un territoire. Enfin, cette 6tude de cas questionne l'assertion de Gunder Frank soutenanL qu'une p6riode de crise (guerre, famine) att6nue le niveau de d6pendance dam les r6gions "arriSr6es" d'un pays. Les faits ont corrobore l'affirmation de Gunder Frank sur de courtes, mais non sur de longues p6riodes de temps. 11 a 6t6 d6montr6, en effet, que la dgpression mondiale des ann6es 1930 a intensifie 116tat de dgpendance de 1'Est du Qu6bec. vii En conclusion, cette recherche avance que les diff6rences perGues entre pays en voie de d6veloppement et 1'Est du Qu6bec ne sont pas suffisantes pour invalider l'utilisation de la grille d'analyse centre-p6riph6rie dans 11i5tude de cette rEgion. La recherche suggGre de plus, que l'emploi de ce cadre d'analyse soit appliqu6 2 l16tude d'autres rggions p6riphgriques situ6es en pays industrialises. viii RENERC IEMENTS I1 m'est particulisrement agr6able de remercier les personnes qui ont contribu6 3 la r6alisation de cette recherche. Ma gratitude va tout d'abord aux Drs. Jacques Benjamin et Maureen Cove11 pour le temps qu'ils m'ont r6servE et les conseils judicieux qu'ils m'ont prodigugs. Je suis 6galement reconnaissant envers le Dr. Alan C. Cairns qui a accept6 de lire un texte 6crit en fran~ais. Je tiens B souligner la disponibilitii que les Drs. Paul Warwick et Gary A. Mauser ont fait preuve Zi mon Ggard, de mGme que les nombreux services que Claude Morin m'a rendus tout au cours de cette recherche.