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This article is an analysis of the discursive space surrounding the terms and conditions of belonging in the Franco-Manitoban community of Saint-Boniface (Manitoba) in 2005. The discourse that is herein analyzed appeared in La Liberté, a French language weekly newspaper. Daniel Lavoie, a Franco-Manitoban singer-songwriter who moved to Québec in the 1970s, addressed a letter to La Liberté expressing his disagreement with the construction of a high-rise, privately owned, residential building on historical ground (the “500 Taché” project). His statements became the center of a spirited debate in the newspaper's pages, as this construction project deeply divided the local community at that time. This analysis of the “500 Taché” project is part of a larger, ongoing analysis of the role of language in the creation of social boundaries in French Manitoba, and the legitimacy of people who left the province as social actors in present day community events and decisions.

Keywords: discours médiatique, légitimité, Manitoba français, Québec, La Liberté, patrimoine, appartenance, identité, mobilité, media discourse, legitimacy, French Manitoba, Québec, La Liberté, cultural heritage, belonging, identity, mobility

The perceptions afforded by the study of legal pluralism assist an understanding of the full scope and the social and moral significance of alternative dispute resolution. The latter term includes all modes and forms of dispute resolution within the legal order of the state other than the usual forms of adjudication by the ordinary courts. These modes may be classified in relatively wide and fluid categories as other forms of adjudication, and arbitration, mediation and negotiation. However, alternative dispute resolution also includes instances of all these processes which are not established, adopted, or made effective by the state. The study of legal pluralism throughout the world shows that almost everywhere are many such instances, generated within many semi-autonomous social fields other than the state, and falling into all the listed categories. The study of legal pluralism further suggests that the different dispute settlement processes are likely to be associated with different bodies of legal norms. There is evidence that to some extent alternative state processes employ different bodies of laws. The evidence also shows that non-state processes employ bodies of norms which always differ, and may differ widely from those of state law. While legal centralism denies these norms the name of "laws", there seems no good reason not to classify such rules and principles, which order relations within social fields other than the state, as "customary law", or by some similar term. Alternative dispure resolution processes have been lauded as enhancing the effectiveness of the law, providing wider access to justice or law. However, if the argument presented here is correct, it is not sufficient to represent them as implementing "the law". Rather each implements a different variety of law. The social functions of these different laws of different dispute resolution processes, both state and non-state, vary, and so need investigation in each particular case. Whether any law is to be approved as affecting power relations in the society concerned is similarly a matter for investigation. While it has been suggested that alternative dispute resolution processes can confer on the weak and underprivileged an opportunity to assert their interests, it has been argued against such a view that they may provide opportunities for the already powerful to increase their powers, free of the restraining influence of regular state courts. On the other hand, state processes may at certain historical moments be manipulated by the weak to their advantage. Non-state processes may, also in special circumstances, empower collectively the members of the social fields in which they operate.

In the midst of dynamic socio-economic and cultural conditions, the Glengarry Highland Games were revived in a rural community of Eastern Ontario in 1948. Throughout the second half of the 20th century, this festival became the lifeblood of a movement perpetuating Scottish Highland cultural practices and (re)producing "Scottishness" as the dominant cultural currency in an ethnically diverse county. Using primary evidence in the forms of oral histories, newspapers, and archives, this paper examines how the expansion of spaces and opportunities to celebrate Scottish cultural practices has influenced the social construction of regional and cultural identities in Glengarry County from 1948 to the 21st century.

This article explores the family business transfer process in Africa, focusing on Senegalese practices. We use the process developed by Cadieux (2004) to analyse nine cases of business legacy. Based on this theoretical framework, our results are based on the coexistence of the formal and informal sectors in particular the lack of preparation for the transfer (lack of a relief plan) and different attitudes towards the process itself, in terms of initiation (selection of the successor by filiation, heredity or merit), of integration (empirical, Koranic or academic entry strategies for the successor) and of the exit conditions at different stages in the transition and exit conditions (withdrawal of the predecessor at the time of his/her own death). The features we reveal are such that they call for a contextualised analysis of the process. Thus, my theoretical contribution lies in our proposal for a succession process linked to Senegalese cultural influences.

Keywords: Transmission, Entreprises familiales, Approche processuelle, Étude de cas, Spécificités culturelles sénégalaises, Business transfer, Family business, Processual approach, Case study, Senegalese cultural specificities, Transmisión, Empresas familiares, Enfoque basado en procesos, Estudio de caso, Especificidades culturales de Senegal