Introduction

This volume takes an innovative approach to current scholarship by choosing Quebec and Japan as focal areas for a study of small nations. Even though Quebec’s and Japan’s contexts are different, they share a common ground, including their positions relative to the United States, the superpower with which both have long maintained political ties and tensions. Focusing on Quebec and Japan, while including chapters on Newfoundland, Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, Hong Kong, Black communities in the United States and Jews in Russia, this volume explores the diverse and varied experiences of being part of small groups and collectivities. Despite differences, these areas have shared a common experience of being repressed by greater powers. It re-evaluates not only the position of small nations in the studies of history and social sciences but also the process whereby these nations have cultivated their consciousness of themselves as “small,” a quality that has been unduly disregarded far too long. This book illustrates cases in which the term “universal” can be reinterpreted, especially with regard to size, power and human experiences.