Being Anglophone: Language, place and identity in Quebec's Eastern Townships

In Canada, about 80% of the population of the province of Quebec speaks French as its first language, while English first language speakers comprise around 8% of residents. The minority English-speaking population is concentrated in Montreal, but Anglophones can be found throughout the province. In the Eastern Townships region, Anglophones historically were the majority of early settlers. In some small rural communities today, residential patterns persist where Anglophones still comprise the numerical majority of the local population. In these enclaves, English-speaking people can often live their daily lives without having to speak French.;In this ethnographic study of a rural community in Quebec near the border of the United States, fissures related to language and class were revealed in multiple dimensions, including property ownership, occupational sector, and length of residence in the area. The nuances of difference extend beyond the distinction of locals versus people from away, or English and French, but rather reveal an increasingly complex rural economic landscape with multiple interpretations of what it means to be an Anglophone in Quebec.;KEY WORDS: Anglophone, Eastern Townships, Quebec, economic sociology, rural sociology, ethnic entrepreneurship, self-employment, small business, social stratification, language community;In rural communities with a concentration of English speakers, Anglophones face economic opportunities constrained by local conditions and by the need to serve an increasingly French-speaking population. Monolingual Anglophones in rural regions of Quebec also face an increasingly difficult employment environment. Some choose self-employment to meet their needs. The type of occupations they pursue depend in part on access to resources, be they based on economic, physical, social, or human capital. Extant research on ethnic entrepreneurship and language communities offers limited insight into the complex social relations revealed by various aspects of the population under consideration.