Abstracts
Abstract
Drawing on data collected in Arctic Bay (Nunavut) between 1990 and 1994, this article illustrates how school has incrementally intruded on the customary socialisation practices of Inuit families. Consequently, the full expression of Inuit personhood is diminishing. This damage is inevitable because school, an institution of mainstream Canadian society, promotes an expression of personhood that is inconsistent with its counterpart in Inuit society, which has traditionally socialised children to overcome egocentric concerns in the interest of group survival. In contrast, school socialises children for competitive individual survival in a wage economy. The different expectations for socially responsible behaviour in each context are particularly striking.
Résumé
À partir de données recueillies à Arctic Bay (Nunavut) entre 1990 et 1994, cet article illustre la manière dont l’école s’est progressivement introduite dans les pratiques coutumières de socialisation des familles inuit. En conséquence, la pleine expression de la personne inuit diminue. Ces dommages sont inévitables car l’école, institution du courant majoritaire de la société canadienne, promeut une expression de la personne qui ne correspond pas à son homologue chez les Inuit. Pour ces derniers, traditionnellement, la socialisation des enfants tendait à leur faire surmonter les motivations égocentriques dans l’intérêt de la survie du groupe. Au contraire, l’école socialise les enfants dans l’optique d’une survie individuelle dans la compétition au sein de l’économie salariée. Il existe des différences frappantes entre les attentes dans chacun des contextes pour ce qui est du comportement socialement responsable.
Appendices
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10.7202/038220ar