LA DÉCENTRALISATION DES SERVICES SUPÉRIEURS DANS LA RÉGION MÉTROPOLITAINE DE MONTRÉAL, 1981–1989

Certaines activités tertiaires ont la capacité de jouer un role de ‘moteur’économique. Ces activités du ‘tertiaire moteur,’ ou ‘services supérieurs,’ constituent une partie importante de la base économique des régions métropolitaines. Récemment, aux États-Unis, des chercheurs ont commencéà remarquer la tendance de ces activitès à quitter leur ‘habitat naturel’ dans le centre d'affaires des grandes villes pour se relocaliser dans des ‘edge cities’ ou ‘magnet areas’ vers la périphérie de la zone métropolitaine. Le but principal de cet article est de vérifier si la région métropolitaine de Montréal se caractérise, elle aussi, par des tendances semblables de décentralisation des services supérieurs. Nous utilisons la base de données longitudinales sur les entreprises canadiennes de Statistique Canada pour examiner la question de la décentralisation de ces activités dans la région montréalaise. Nos résultats indiquent que pour 11 des 17 secteurs d'activité compris dans les services supérieurs, la période 1981–1989 a vu un transfert du poids relatif de la ville de Montréal vers les deux couronnes périphériques de la région métropolitaine. Ce transfert été plus fort dans les services financiers, d'assurances et d'affaires immobilières que dans les services aux entreprises. Certain service activities have the capacity to play the role of a ‘motor’ of economic development. These ‘hight-order services’ now form one of the principal components of the economic base of metropolitan areas. Recently, researchers in the U.S. have begun to notice a new propensity for these activities to leave their ‘natural habitat’ in the downtown business district of large cities and to relocate in ‘edge cities’ or ‘magnet areas’ toward the periphery of the metropolitan region. The purpose of this article is to verify if the Montreal metropolitan region is characterized by similar patterns of spatial decentralization of high-order services. Our study uses Statistic Canada's Longitudinal Database on Businesses in the Canadian Economy to examine this issue. Our results indicate that for the period 1981-1989, 11 of 17 high-order service sectors were marked by a relative shift from the City of Montreal towards the periphery of the metropolitan area. This shift was more pronounced for the finance, insurance, and real estate group than for the business service group.     

What's (written) history for?: On James C. Scott's Zomia,especially Chapter 6½

What could still trigger a worthwhile anthropological debate now that eight years have passed since the publication of James C. Scott's The art of not being governed in 2009? In this article, the author proposes a reading involving perhaps the most controversial chapter of Scott's book: Chapter 6½ – ‘Orality, writing, and texts’. Scott means to say that the absence of literacy in a society could result from a preference rather than a deficiency. He describes a project that refuses state formation, putting to use the advantages of flexibility and adaptation that an oral tradition has over a written tradition. Drawing on the case of the Hmong, the author proposes that Scott's argument might have been made more solid had he relied less on a geographical and historically rooted definition of Zomia, and more on a discussion of cultural elements such as egalitarianism and orality.     

The dynamic nature of social disadvantage: implications for hazard exposure and vulnerability in Greater Vancouver

Urbanization and re-urbanization continually alter spatial patterns of social disadvantage and hazard exposure, which in turn affect social vulnerability. The current study explores vulnerability to hazards in Greater Vancouver over a 15-year period (1986 to 2001). Results illustrate how social disadvantage is multi-dimensional and emerges from the social geography of a city. The study illustrates the speed with which both the structure and spatial patterns of social disadvantage can change in cities experiencing rapid growth or redevelopment. The study also suggests that Greater Vancouver does not display consistent patterns of minority- or income-based environmental inequity in hazard exposure, which raises questions about the role of various policies in ameliorating vulnerability to natural and technological hazards .     

A new Gaullist moment? European bandwagoning and international polarity

The transatlantic partnership needs to be reassessed. Since the end of the Cold War, Europe has chosen to bandwagon with the United States and to outsource its security to Washington. Bandwagoning has serious consequences when the use of force is at stake: it may lead to entrapment, where weaker allies may be involuntarily dragged into a conflict. It may also lead to abandonment, where the dominant ally may choose to discard their vital security concerns. With the evolution of the international system towards a multipolar configuration, this strategy of bandwagoning is becoming increasingly costly for Europe while the dominant power, the United States, is progressively confronted by other competitors at the systemic level. These classic dilemmas attached to an asymmetric partnership are exacerbated in a multipolar configuration. In particular, the abandonment scenario may become more and more frequent precisely because there is competition—and thus potential costs—at the international level: the United States may leave Europe alone, not by choice but by necessity. The current crisis in Ukraine illustrates this shift: while some American leaders were keen to escalate the conflict by arming Ukraine, the Obama administration's commitment to the defence of Europe has been minimal and it has largely delegated the management of the crisis to the Europeans themselves. Washington had other and more important priorities. Strategic autonomy is not an option for Europe; it has become a reality, a Gaullist moment where Europeans will have to learn to think and act strategically for themselves.     

The African Union and the International Criminal Court: counteracting the crisis

In October 2016, South Africa became the first nation to withdraw from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), after Burundi began taking steps to leave it. Kenya is likely to follow, and other states, like Uganda, could take the same cue. The ICC is facing the most serious diplomatic crisis of its history, with the African Union (AU) denouncing double standards, neo‐colonialism and ‘white justice’, and regularly threatening to withdraw from the Rome Statute en masse. This article adopts both an interdisciplinary and a pragmatic policy‐oriented approach, with the aim of producing concrete recommendations to counteract the crisis. It firstly outlines the context of this crisis which, although not new, is becoming increasingly serious. It then responds to the AU's objections to the ICC. The court's ‘Afro‐centrism’ is explained by objective facts (the occurrence of mass crimes taking place on the African continent, the large number of African parties to the Rome Statute, the principle of complementarity) as well as by subjective decisions (a convergence of interest between the African leaders who brought the cases to the court themselves to weaken their opponents, and the prosecutor who needed quickly to find cases). Afro‐centrism should also be nuanced, as the ICC has already shown an interest in cases outside Africa and the extent to which it is a problem is a matter of perspective. The article also responds to the ‘peace vs justice’ objection, and emphasises that African states were instrumental in creating and sustaining the ICC. It finally formulates recommendations to ease relations between the ICC and AU, such as to investigate more outside Africa, reinforce African national jurisdictions, create intermediary institutional structures, promote regional‐level action, and rely more on ICC‐friendly African states and African civil society.     

RESIDENTIAL PATTERNS OF NEW IMMIGRANTS AND LINGUISTIC INTEGRATION

The present study looks at the residential patterns of new immigrants in Montreal and their impact on subsequent language use in the workplace and educational programs. We first explore the themes of language and territory, citing evidence for the neighbourhood of residence as being a site of language contact organized linguistically around models corresponding to the majority language spoken by its population. Secondly, we explore a sample of 1000 new immigrants, situating them in francophone, anglophone, allophone, and heterogeneous neighbourhoods. Three aspects of their residential establishment are examined: their distribution within the neighbourhoods of Montreal, the factors determining the choice of one or another of the four types of linguistic milieux, and the influence of these milieux on subsequent language use. These latter two aspects use Event History Analysis, a statistical model permitting the longitudinal analysis of dated data.     

The automobile imperative: Risks of mobility and mobility-related risks

Each year, nearly one percent of Canadians is injured in traffic accidents. This paper focuses on the nature of road transportation risks in Canada ‐ the magnitude of the problem and the reasons for its persistence. A mobility‐based approach to road safety research is advocated because of its potential to both improve understanding and help work towards longterm solutions. The discussion is organized around two main themes: risks of mobility and mobility‐related risks. In the first instance, the focus is on linkages between quantity of travel/exposure and safety, especially over time. In the second theme, the emphasis is on linkages between quality of exposure and safety. Specific themes, including weather hazards and graduated licensing, are used to develop the second theme. The main conclusion is that casualty rates per unit of travel have declined over the past 25 years, largely due to improved engineering, enforcement and education, but that casualty levels and monetary costs remain high, largely because of the auto‐mobility imperative. Chaque année, près de 1% des canadiens se blessent dans des accidents de la route. Cette communication s'intéresse à la nature du risque routier au Canada, plus spécifiquement sur l'ampleur du problème et les raisons de sa persistance. Une approche axée sur la mobilité est préconisée pour son potentiel à apporter une meilleure compréhension du problème et à faciliter la mise en place de solutions à long‐terme. La discussion s'organise autour de deux thèmes centraux: 1) le risque de la mobilité et 2) les risques liés à la mobilité. En premier lieu, les liens entre la quantité des déplacements/exposition au risque et la sécurité sont investigués à travers le temps. Pour le deuxiéme thème, l'accent est mis sur les liens entre la qualité de l'exposition et la securité. Des thèmes spécifiques incluant les conditions météorologiques et l'expérience de conduite sont utilisés pour développer le deuxième thème. La principale conclusion est que les taux de blessures par unité de déplacement ont diminué au cours des 25 dernières années, ce qui est en grande partie attribuable au progrès en ingénierie, à la mise en place de mesures coercitives et à l'éducation. Toutefois, la gravité des blessures et les coûts monétaires qui y sont liés demeurent élevés principalement à cause des impératifs de la mobilité automobile.     

Indigenous Peoples and Indigenous Movements in Latin America and the World

Marvin Harris. Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches: The Riddles of Culture. New York: Random House, 1974. 276 pp. References. $7.95 (cloth).