ABSTRACT
In the early twenty-first century, the comparative study of minority nations in multinational federations has attracted increasing attention from scholars of comparative federalism. In many respects this scholarly interest is a reaction to what Charles Taylor, one of Canada’s leading lights in the field of political theory and philosophy, called “an age of identity awakening” of national identities in the new millennium (2001: xiv). And while the specific causes of this new awakening vary widely across the world it clearly has its roots in the post-Cold War years, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the intensification of European integration, enhanced regional international cooperation, and globalisation in telecommunications, information and financial-capital markets. Different combinations of these global factors have merged with historical specificities to trigger a novel revival of old identities and the assertion of new ones. Consequently, it is in this context of complexity that we must situate the comparison in this book between Quebec and Wallonia which share both significant similarities as well as notable differences.
